First-hand accounts from the front line

Our Man in the Middle East

BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen presents a personal history of the Middle East. 
 
Over these 25 programmes, Jeremy reflects on the present and the past of the Middle East, after reporting from the region for more than a quarter of a century. He combines first-hand accounts from the front line with an in-depth look into the region's history. He has witnessed endless wars between individuals, religious groups and full-sized states, jostling for military, political and economic power. He has interviewed dictators, fanatics and fundamentalists as well as the ordinary people caught up in their dangerous games. In that time, the past has always been present, providing motivation and political ammunition. Bowen has made headlines himself and he has paid a personal price, coming under fire and losing a colleague in the course of reporting - on the worst day, he says, in his life. 
 
1. The Giant Awakens: On America's dramatic intervention in the region during the massive military build-up to the first Gulf War 
2. All Flesh is Glass: Bowen recalls the devastation of the first Gulf War, as he witnessed the aftermath of the bombing of a shelter in Baghdad 
3. Retreat to the Mountains: The story of the Kurds of Iraq 
4. Jerusalem: On the allure and challenge of the Holy City 
5. Recipe for Disaster: How the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin changed the region's history 
6. Crossing the Divide: How a gas container explains the divide between the Israelis and the Palestinians 
7. Death on the Nile: On the trail of Osama Bin Laden 
8. The Final Frontier: Looking back to December 1998, when the West sent bombers into Baghdad 
9. A Blunt Instrument: Bowen recalls his tricky dealings with the Iraqi Ministry of Information 
10. The Nearness of Death: Bowen describes the worse day of his working life - the day he and his colleagues came under fire from the Israeli Defence Force 
11. A Strike to the Heart: The dark days following 9/11 
12. The Drums of War: The fallout from the invasion of Iraq in 2003 
13. The Unravelling: On what went wrong, as Iraq descended into chaos in the months after the US invasion in 2003 
14. Guns and Olive Branches: The life of Yasser Arafat 
15. Missiles and the Ballot Box: Exploring Gaza 
16. A Taste of Fire and Smoke: The impact of religious divisions across the Middle East 
17. A Flash of Nail Varnish: On Iran's strategic position in the Middle East and its attitudes to the West 
18. The Revolving Revolution: The popular revolution in Egypt during the Arab Spring 
19. Unfollow the Leader: The overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya 
20. Crossing the Line: The dramatic eruption of opposition to the Assad regime in Syria 
21. A Mini World War: On the many different layers of war in Syria 
22. Oil and Water: The conflict in Yemen and the role of Saudi Arabia 
23. The New Sultan: Turkey's dramatic changes under the leadership of President Erdogan 
24. Cruelty Without Borders: On the rise and fall of the Islamic State group 
25. Through a Glass Darkly: Bowen looks at some of the lessons of the past 25 years - what happens next in the Middle East? 
 
Produced by Mark Savage and Cara Swift. 
 
The audio for this title has been updated as of December 2019.

Andrea Catherwood

Ian Hislop

Allan Little

Jeremy Bowen

Jonathan Freedland

'Sensitive but to the point... clear and fair'

A BBC Radio 4 series exploring the history and future of the U.K.

A BBC Radio 4 season exploring the history and future of the United Kingdom 
 
In this remarkable collection exploring the state of the United Kingdom and the future of its union, five presenters examine the identities, history and struggles of the nations, and ask what keeps them together as a united country. 
 
In the first episode, Jonathan Freedland and a team of historians and BBC correspondents take The Long View of the Union of the United Kingdom, at the constitutional, economic and cultural bonds between the nations, particularly after Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, and at three moments in the UK's history when its future was under similar scrutiny. 
 
In A Sea Between Us, Andrea Catherwood looks back at the Ireland she left, when the the IRA was still active, the prospect of a united Ireland seemed remote, and unionist parties enjoyed a comfortable majority at the polls. Now, she meets voices from Belfast's unionist community, looks at the Northern Ireland Protocol's potential damage to Northern Ireland's place in the UK, and talks to those from a traditionally pro-union background, who now say they're agnostic about their country's place in the UK. 
 
The Ghost Kingdoms of England sees Ian Hislop telling the stories of the four great Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms - East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex - celebrating their golden ages and trying to understand their journey from groupings of North Sea peoples to powerful kingdoms, and eventually a single entity. He talks to such varied experts as curator of Medieval coinage Gareth Williams, head of archeology at Durham University Sarah Semple, writer Bernard Cornwell, and art historian Janina Ramirez, as he uncovers how the regional identities have left their mark, and how the nations stabilised into becoming 'England'. 
 
In Two Kingdoms, Allan Little presents the epic story of how and why Scotland entered into union with England, why that Union endured for so long, and the historic changes that have brought Scotland closer to independence than it's been since 1707. This is a story about the emergence of a powerful partnership forged in Empire, industry and war, and Allan asks what happens when their values diverge and then clash, with profound consequences for millions of people on both sides of the border. 
 
The final episodes, Being Welsh, see Jeremy Bowen examine what it means to be Welsh, taking in Welsh politics, language, history and culture from the starting point of a Cardiff Stadium rugby match. With contributions from Jac Larner, Martin Johnes, and Siân James, as well as Rhys Jones, Rebecca Thomas, and Uzo Iwobi, Being Welsh investigates the distinct identities across the country, the construction of modern Wales, and the complicated relationship between Wales and England. 
 
'Sensitive but to the point... clear and fair' Guardian 
 
Presented by Jonathan Freedland, Andrea Catherwood, Ian Hislop, Allan Little and Jeremy Bowen 
Produced by Mohini Patel, Conor Garrett, Tom Alban, Jonathan Brunert, Caitlin Smith and Glyn Tansley 
 
The Long View 
Produced by Mohini Patel 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2021 
 
A Sea Between Us 
Produced by Conor Garrett 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2021 
 
The Ghost Kingdoms of England 
Produced by Tom Alban 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2021 
 
Two Kingdoms 
Produced by Jonathan Brunert and Caitlin Smith 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2021 
 
Being Welsh 
Produced by Glyn Tansley 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January and February 2022 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Jeremy Bowen

Praise for This Union

'Sensitive but to the point... clear and fair'

Books by Jeremy Bowen

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