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Jun 2023
25m 2s

The British Empire

History Hit
About this episode

The British Empire was one of the most influential and far-reaching empires in history. Dan and his guest journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera remember school lessons on the small island that rose to global dominance. From the 16th century to the 20th century, the British Empire spanned continents, encompassing vast territories and diverse cultures, controlling a quarter of the planet. But, the way we've been taught about the Empire hasn't always been the full story and today historians are building a more complex and thorough picture of what the British Empire was. Sathnam sheds light on the darker aspects of the empire's history - colonisation, slavery and exploitation and Dan confronts some difficult truths about his own family's history. Together, they consider how we teach it to the next generation in a way that acknowledges everything- the good, the bad and the difficult.


Sathnam Sanghera's new children's book is called 'Stolen History'.


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