The Invention Of...

Ranking history

About the show

Latest episodes

• The Balkans: The Birth and Death of Yugoslavia

  April 17, 2026 · 45 min

  Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans to report on the birth and death of Yugoslavia. With contributions from Lea Ypi, Radina Vucetic, Ivan Veyvoda, Tim Heneage, Jelena Dureinovic, plus former soldier turned writer Faruk Sehic in Sarajevo…

• The Balkans: Episode 2

  April 6, 2026 · 42 min

  Churchill may have said that the Balkans produce more history than it can consume, but in this episode Misha Glenny and Miles Warde head out to discover if it's true. This is a road trip through Bosnia, Belgrade and northern Greece. The…

• The Balkans: What Are the Balkans?

  April 3, 2026 · 42 min

  June 28 1914 - a young Bosnian on a street corner in Sarajevo fired a shot that triggered World War One. Why is this region so unstable, and what lessons can we learn from that event. Misha Glenny was a famous reporter during the wars of…

• Hungary: Two World Wars and One Failed Revolution

  July 3, 2025 · 42 min

  It's easy to forget how entwined Hungary has been in some of the worst events of the last 100 years – losers in the first world war, the country initially sided with the Nazis in the second, tried to change its mind, was invaded by the…

• Hungary: The Butcher and the Poet

  July 2, 2025 · 42 min

  "Brussels is abusing its power," said Victor Orban, "just as Vienna once did." The date, March 15 2025 - this year - but the reference was to March 1848 when Hungary rose up against its Austrian overlords, a great moment for many…

• Hungary: Hungary and Mohacs 500

  June 23, 2025 · 46 min

  Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde travel from Vienna to Budapest and beyond to find out how Hungarian hardman Viktor Orban stays in power. With an election coming up next year, now seemed a good time to find out how he uses history in…

• Taiwan

  September 12, 2024 · 30 min

  At the beginning of this year the president of the Chinese People's Republic, Xi Jinping, claimed that people living on both sides of the Taiwan Straits should reunite "and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation". But…

• China: The Life and Times of Chairman Mao

  May 24, 2024 · 42 min

  Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from. "Twentieth century China is the most extraordinary place, and Mao is at the heart of nearly all of it." With the help of Tania…