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Living with the Empire

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MP and historian Kwasi Kwarteng on the legacy of Empire.

MP and historian Kwasi Kwarteng sets out to look for the British Empire in the UK's monuments, people - and in its contested memories.

Living with the Empire: Empire of Stone

Empire of Stone

BBC Radio 4 - Living with the Empire, Empire of Stone

MP and historian Kwasi Kwarteng claims the British Empire is all around us today and in this series he sets out to look for it in the UK’s monuments, people - and in its contested memories.

In ‘Empire of Stone’, he shows how the Empire is memorialised and symbolised in London, the very centre of British imperial power for several centuries. Looking at statues, buildings, even housing estates, he explains how they all have a story to tell about Britain’s relationship with other countries. But do we notice them and their associations? If so, what should we make of them? And in diverse modern-day Britain, who are the people doing the looking? These symbols mean different things to different people. Asking how we deal with that, Kwasi seeks answers from people running museums, writers, school children and their history teacher. 

Producer Gareth Jones for BBC Wales

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Living with the Empire

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