Empire
IN the first programme of this new five-part series Jeremy Paxman looks at the British Empire and asks how such a small country as ours came to rule over a quarter of the world’s population.
He travels to India where local soldiers and maharajahs helped a handful of British traders take over vast areas of land.
Spectacular displays of imperial power dazzled the locals and developed a cult of Queen Victoria as Empress, mother and virtual god.
In Egypt Paxman explores the bit of Empire that never was, as Britain’s temporary peace-keeping visit turned into a 70-year occupation.
He also travels to the desert where Lawrence of Arabia brought a touch of buccaneering and romance to the grim struggle of the First World War.