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Making History

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

Popular history series where the past connects with the present.

Making History: 24/03/2015

24/03/2015

BBC Radio 4 - Making History, 24/03/2015

Why was Robert Bruce writing letters to Edward II? Plus Europe's first Enigma machine.

Helen Castor asks why Robert Bruce was writing humble letters to Edward II at the height of a guerrilla war in Scotland, and Tom Holland reveals Europe's first Enigma machine.

Helen Castor is joined by Professor Michael Brown from University of St Andrews and John Gallagher from the University of Cambridge, to discuss the stories that are making history this week.

Fiona Watson meets with Professor Daviut Broun from the University of Glasgow to hear how he discovered a new version of a letter from Robert the Bruce to Edward II. Written at the height of the guerrilla war fought by the Scots to rid their country of the English, the tone is conciliatory and very humble. So what was Bruce's game and does it mark a turning point in the years before Bannockburn?

In Dresden, Tom Holland meets with Michael Korey from the Zwinger Museum to see a 16th century version of Germany's infamous Enigma machine.

Finally, Professor Mark Stoyle from the University of Southampton discusses why Rosemary Sutcliff's book about the Civil War, Simon, helped shape his career.


Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

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24/03/2015

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