The Story of the Jews

Simon Schama looks at the Jewish story, starting 3,000 years ago with the emergence of tribal people in contested land and a book to define them across millennia.
Watch the BBC documentary: Part 1: In the Beginning and Part 2: Among Believers

BBC Documentary – Behind the Rhetoric: The Real Iran
Documentary presented by Rageh Omaar which reveals the lives, hopes and fears of the young generation of Tehran, the most intriguing, talked about but least understood city in the world today.

Omaar and director Paul Sapin spent a year arranging the permissions and contacts for the film, who include a renowned female photojournalist, a woman who is the CEO of an international transport company, the editor of a youth magazine, the staff at a drug rehab centre and a pop star.

What do we really know about the Islamic Republic of Iran, aside from a Cold War rhetoric of politicians on both sides each accusing the other of evil? Rageh Omaar embarks on a unique journey inside what he describes as one of the most misunderstood countries in the world, looking at the country through the eyes of people rarely heard -- ordinary Iranians. It took a year of wrangling to get permission to film inside Iran but the result is an amazing portrayal of an energetic and vibrant country that is completely different to the usual images seen in the media.

Young Margaret
BBC Documentary looking at the childhood influences that shaped Margaret Thatcher and drove her to her unique place in history. Including intimate interviews with close family members.
Watch the programme here

This World: A History of Syria with Dan Snow
Dan Snow travels to Syria to see how the current civil war has been shaped by the country's tumultuous history, unpicking the historic divisions between the myriad factions.
Watch the programme here | Monday, March 11, 2013

Auschwitz: The Nazi and the Final Solution
At the Auschwitz camp, a large amount of wealth was stolen from the Jews. The Goldjuden or Jews of gold were in charge of handling the money, gold, stocks, and jewelry. They subjected the prisoners to an intimate search just before the gas chambers. Jewish women had relationships with SS guards to save their life.

So called camp doctors, especially the notorious Josef Mengele, would torture and inflict incredible suffering on Jewish children, Gypsy children and many others. Patients were put into pressure chambers, tested with drugs, castrated, frozen to death and exposed to various other traumas.

Josef Mengele, did a number of twin studies, and these twins were usually murdered after the experiment was over and their bodies dissected. In the case of the twins, he drew sketches of each twin, for comparison. Mengele was almost fanatical about drawing blood from twins, mostly identical twins. Only a few survived....






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BBC: Islam and Science
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.



Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science - there would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis.



For Baghdad-born Al-Khalili this is also a personal journey and on his travels he uncovers a diverse and outward-looking culture, fascinated by learning and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine whose Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, he pieces together a remarkable story of the often-overlooked achievements of the early medieval Islamic scientists. [Source: YouTube]

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Panorama: Muslim First, British Second
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The Nazis: A Warning from History, Part 1

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TIMESONLINE ARCHIVES:
Adolf Hitler Is Dead

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers

An Islamic History of Europe: التاريخ الإسلامي في أوروبا
This series of twelve BBC videos are well worth watching. Bear in mind, however, that much appears to have been whitewashed. There is no talk of dhimmitude; and in general a very rosy picture is painted. One could be forgiven for believing that this is the story of El Dorado! You decide on the accuracy of all that has been reported. Above all, enjoy!


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Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Britain in Crisis: “White Flight”/"White Fright" - BBC Documentary: Panorama
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Mark Alexander