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Things We Forgot to Remember

Documentaries

Factual: History

Series examining overlooked but noteworthy historical events, with Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo presents a series revisiting the great moments of history to discover that they often conceal other events of equal but forgotten importance

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Things We Forgot to Remember: Series 4

Things We Forgot to Remember: Series 4: Episode 4: Alfred the Great

Episode 4

Episode 4: Alfred the Great

Series 4

Alfred the Great

BBC Radio 4 - Things We Forgot to Remember, Series 4, Alfred the Great

Michael Portillo investigates Alfred the Great - English hero or Saxon spin-doctor?

Michael Portillo revisits the great moments of history and looks at the reputation of King Alfred the Great - bold English hero or Anglo Saxon spin-doctor?

Michael Portillo presents an edition of The Things We Forgot to Remember which looks at the reputation of King Alfred the Great: bold English hero or Anglo Saxon spin-doctor? 

Alfred the Great sits at the root of English history. The man who burnt the cakes, the man who held the line against the marauding Vikings and the man who, more than almost any other monarch in our history, defined the national identity. He was a bulldog before the bulldog had been bred. But Michael Portillo explores the reality of Alfred's reign in Wessex. To what extent was he a great saviour? Have we forgotten to remember that the most important thing about his reign was that he sponsored the reporting of it in the form of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles? Michael travels to Winchester to get try and disentangle the Anglo-Saxon spin.

Producer: Tom Alban 

(repeat).

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Michael Portillo revisits great moments of history that conceal other important events

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Episode 4: Alfred the Great

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