A History of the World in 100 Objects

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Factual: History

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD): Early Victorian tea set

Early Victorian tea set

Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

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Neil MacGregor tells the story of the global trade in tea - with a Victorian tea set.

Neil MacGregor's world history through objects. This week he is exploring the global economy in the 19th century. Today, the story of Britain's favourite drink - with a tea set!

This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is looking at how the global economy became cemented in the 19th century, a time of mass production and mass consumption. He tells the story of how tea became the defining national drink in Britain - why have we become so closely associated with a brew made from leaves mainly grown in China and India?  The object he has chosen to reflect this curious history is an early Victorian tea set, made in Staffordshire and perfectly familiar to all of us. The historian Celina Fox and Monique Simmonds from Kew gardens find new meaning in the ubiquitous cuppa.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


A History of the World in 100 Objects: Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD)

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

How industrialisation, mass politics and imperial ambitions changed the world.

Neil MacGregor uses five objects to highlight the world-wide consequences of shifts in the balance of economic, political and imperial power in the 19th century.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD)

Early Victorian tea set

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