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  • Voices of the Powerless: The Complete Series

  • By: Melvyn Bragg
  • Narrated by: Melvyn Bragg
  • Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (46 ratings)
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Voices of the Powerless: The Complete Series

By: Melvyn Bragg
Narrated by: Melvyn Bragg
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Summary

Melvyn Bragg follows his long historical exploration of the Routes of English with 'Voices of the Powerless', the BBC Radio 4 series in which he explores the lives of the ordinary working men and women of Britain at critical moments across the last 1,000 years.

The Norman Conquest is his starting point, a time when William the Conqueror's 'harrying of the North' affected the poor apprentice, the lowly ploughman and the humble shepherd. He goes on to look at the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 (inspired by a hated Poll Tax) and the religious changes brought about by Henry VIII's Reformation. The so-called 'Plantation' of Ulster, the Siege of Chester, and the plague which ravaged Salisbury in 1627 are later stopping-off points in Bragg's journey, which also finds him traversing the country and speaking to historians and experts about the life of the ordinary citizen in each period.

Next Melvyn visits urban Lancashire to explore the warp and weft of the Industrial Revolution to see how the upheavals of the new mechanisation affected workers who found their traditional trades marginalised by the growth of industrialization. After he travels to the historic dockyard of Chatham to explore the life of a seaman in Nelson's navy, he voyages to Tasmania to find out what a sentence of transportation to Van Diemen’s Land really meant to those who survived the journey 'beyond the seas'. As well as the Highland Clearances - still talked of as one of the harshest pieces of social manipulation in Britain's history - we travel to East Yorkshire to discover the little-known story of the Wolds Wagoners, a regiment drawn up by the local landlord from the men on his estate during World War One. Lastly, Melvyn Bragg visits Merthyr Tydfil to look at the plight of the miners in the Depression and how the disastrous effects of the Wall Street Crash, combined with industrial unrest, left towns like Merthyr Tydfil a mere shadow of its former self.

First broadcast in 2002, this Complete Series contains all 12 episodes of Series One and Two: 'The Norman Conquest', 'The Peasants' Revolt', 'The Reformation', 'The Plantation of Ireland', 'The English Civil War', 'The Great Plague'; 'The Industrial Revolution', 'The Napoleonic Wars', 'The Colonisation of Australia', 'The Highland Clearances', 'The First World War' and 'Coal Mining and the Depression'.

Guidance: due to the archive nature of the recording the sound quality may vary.

©2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about Voices of the Powerless: The Complete Series

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Whispers from history

The series takes a look at key moments in British history from the point of view of the powerless - those who, by definition, were often voiceless at the time and therefore left out of the history books. Melvyn Bragg is a genius at getting professionals and lay experts to delve deep and go a little bit further in explaining their topic (witness the astonishing legacy he has created through his In Our Time broadcasts), and his personal passion for the impact of politics, war, disease, economics and scientific development on the under-reported majority shines through. The two series include some original research (the programme about the convicts sent to Australia), some powerfully moving moments (the programmes on Ulster and the Scottish Highlands spring to mind) and a lot of thought-provoking facts and opinion throughout.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Powerful.

Interested in the social history of the ordinary person? This is a book for you.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fab. I have listened again and again.

Easy to listen to, each subject is interesting and we'll presented. The one about the Reformation is outstanding.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The other history

Very interesting, viewpoint, probably closer to the real truth without the sparkle, a very interesting listen.

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