Neil MacGregor updates his famous radio series with an object chosen to represent 2020.
Published on Friday, 25th December 2020.
Neil MacGregor's last object in his world history - a solar-powered lamp and charger.
Published on Friday, 22nd October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a credit card - one that is compliant with Sharia law.
Published on Thursday, 21st October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with an African throne - made from decommissioned guns.
Published on Wednesday, 20th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor considers the state of human rights - with a David Hockney print.
Published on Tuesday, 19th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor nears the end of his world history - with a Russian revolutionary plate.
Published on Monday, 18th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a penny coin defaced by suffragettes with the words "Votes for women".
Published on Friday, 15th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a wooden drum from Sudan that Kitchener presented to Queen Victoria.
Published on Thursday, 14th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a familiar image - Hokusai's The Great Wave.
Published on Wednesday, 13th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor tells the story of the global trade in tea - with a Victorian tea set.
Published on Tuesday, 12th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a chronometer that accompanied Darwin to South America.
Published on Monday, 11th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with an object from the 18th-century Chinese Enlightenment - a jade disc
Published on Friday, 8th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a bark shield brought from Australia by Captain Cook
Published on Thursday, 7th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a buckskin map from North America
Published on Wednesday, 6th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a feathered helmet given to Captain Cook by Pacific Islanders.
Published on Tuesday, 5th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with an African drum taken to America during the slave trade
Published on Monday, 4th October 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a souvenir of the 100th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Published on Friday, 1st October 2010.
Neil MacGregor explores the Spanish religious conquest of Mexico with a map.
Published on Thursday, 30th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor explores religion and politics in South East Asia through a shadow puppet.
Published on Wednesday, 29th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a miniature painting from Mughal India.
Published on Tuesday, 28th September 2010.
Neil Macgregor with a powerful symbol from Shia Iran.
Published on Monday, 27th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with the first truly global money - silver pieces of eight.
Published on Friday, 24th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with porcelain white elephants from Japan.
Published on Thursday, 23rd September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with one of the stars of the British Museum - an Aztec serpent
Published on Wednesday, 22nd September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with some of the best examples of African art, the great plaques of Benin.
Published on Tuesday, 21st September 2010.
Neil Macgregor with a clockwork galleon designed for a grand dinner table.
Published on Monday, 20th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with Durer's extraordinary image of a rhino - an animal he had never seen.
Published on Friday, 17th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a jade cup that belonged a great leader of the Timurid Empire.
Published on Thursday, 16th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a model of a llama - the animal behind the Inca Empire.
Published on Wednesday, 15th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a 14th century bank note - from Ming Dynasty China.
Published on Tuesday, 14th September 2010.
Neil Macgregor with the personal monogram of Suleyman the Magnificent.
Published on Monday, 13th September 2010.
Neil MacGregor with one of the extraordinary giant figures from Easter Island.
Published on Friday, 9th July 2010.
Neil MacGregor with the sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of Mexico.
Published on Thursday, 8th July 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a stone sculpture of the Hindu deity Shiva and his consort Parvati.
Published on Wednesday, 7th July 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a 14th century icon from the Byzantine Empire.
Published on Tuesday, 6th July 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a reliquary made for a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns.
Published on Monday, 5th July 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a ritual seat from a Caribbean culture that has been destroyed.
Published on Friday, 2nd July 2010.
Neil MacGregor - and the transformation of ordinary clay into beautiful Chinese porcelain.
Published on Thursday, 1st July 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a magnificent brass head from the African city of Ife.
Published on Wednesday, 30th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with an extraordinary astronomical instrument.
Published on Tuesday, 29th June 2010.
Neil Macgregor's history through objects - today the famous Lewis chessmen.
Published on Monday, 28th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor - unlocking secrets with broken pots from East Africa.
Published on Friday, 25th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a head of the Buddha from Borobudur.
Published on Thursday, 24th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a bronze mirror from a sacred pond in Japan.
Published on Wednesday, 23rd June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a glass vessel linked with a saintly miracle worker.
Published on Tuesday, 22nd June 2010.
Neil Macgregor with a great Viking hoard from the Vale of York.
Published on Monday, 21st June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a collection of tomb figures from Tang dynasty China
Published on Friday, 18th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a beguiling statue of the Buddhist deity Tara
Published on Thursday, 17th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with an engraved crystal and royal intrigue at the heart of Europe
Published on Wednesday, 16th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with mysterious faces from the harem in an ancient city north of Baghdad
Published on Tuesday, 15th June 2010.
Neil Macgregor with a disturbing, bloody image from the ancient Mayan civilisation
Published on Monday, 14th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor continues his history of the world with a painting from the Silk Road.
Published on Friday, 11th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor delves into the history of an artefact from Korea.
Published on Thursday, 10th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with a warrior figure from a lost people of Peru.
Published on Wednesday, 9th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with one of the most sensational finds from Anglo-Saxon Britain.
Published on Tuesday, 8th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with gold coins from Syria and the transformation of the Middle East.
Published on Monday, 7th June 2010.
A mysterious bronze hand tells the story of religious belief in Arabia before Islam.
Published on Friday, 4th June 2010.
Neil MacGregor encounters one of the earliest images of Christ.
Published on Thursday, 3rd June 2010.
Neil MacGregor, with a dramatic image of power and faith from ancient Iran.
Published on Wednesday, 2nd June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with gold coins from North India.
Published on Tuesday, 1st June 2010.
Neil MacGregor with one of world religion's most iconic images - the Buddha.
Published on Monday, 31st May 2010.
Neil MacGregor uses a silver pepper pot to tell of the Roman spice trade with India.
Published on Friday, 28th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor and an ancient Chinese scroll that rules on how women should behave.
Published on Thursday, 27th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor discovers the oldest ball game on earth.
Published on Wednesday, 26th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor and a 2,000-year-old stone pipe from North America.
Published on Tuesday, 25th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor and a Roman silver cup with the power to shock.
Published on Monday, 24th May 2010.
The 2000 year old bronze head of one of the world's most famous rulers - Caesar Augustus
Published on Friday, 21st May 2010.
Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects arrives in Han Dynasty China
Published on Thursday, 20th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor with one of the past's most recognisable objects; the Rosetta Stone
Published on Wednesday, 19th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor on the life and legacy of the great Indian ruler Ashoka
Published on Tuesday, 18th May 2010.
Neil MacGregor is with the great rulers of the world over 2000 years ago.
Published on Monday, 17th May 2010.
Neil Macgregor tells the story of a Chinese bronze bell from the age of Confucius
Published on Friday, 26th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's history of the world tells of a forgotten people of ancient Mexico.
Published on Thursday, 25th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor continues his material history of humanity, with the early Celts.
Published on Wednesday, 24th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor with some of the world's most disputed objects - the Parthenon sculptures
Published on Tuesday, 23rd February 2010.
Neil MacGregor tells the story of a tiny gold chariot from ancient Persia.
Published on Monday, 22nd February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's retelling of history through objects - gold coins of Croesus
Published on Friday, 19th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's world history through objects. Today: ancient textiles from Peru
Published on Thursday, 18th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects arrives in China 3000 years ago
Published on Wednesday, 17th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's history of the world told through objects; a sphinx with a pharaoh's head
Published on Tuesday, 16th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's world history continues with images of war made over 2500 years ago
Published on Monday, 15th February 2010.
The world of Egypt as ruled by Ramesses II and told through one of his giant statues
Published on Friday, 12th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor tells the story of a gold cape found in Wales and made over 3500 years ago.
Published on Thursday, 11th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's history arrives at a Minoan treasure and a dangerous hobby from 1700 BC
Published on Wednesday, 10th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor describes man's early calculations on an Egyptian papyrus fragment
Published on Tuesday, 9th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's world history - an account of a great flood much older than the Bible.
Published on Monday, 8th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor explores early writing through a 5,000-year-old tablet about beer!
Published on Friday, 5th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's global history told through objects - a 6,000-year-old axe found in Kent.
Published on Thursday, 4th February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's global history told through objects - stone seals from the Indus Valley.
Published on Wednesday, 3rd February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's global history told through objects. Today, battle scenes from Iraq.
Published on Tuesday, 2nd February 2010.
Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects. Today, a great Pharaoh's sandal label
Published on Monday, 1st February 2010.
Neil MacGregor tells the story of a 7,000-year-old Japanese pot and a forgotten people
Published on Friday, 29th January 2010.
Neil MacGregor discovers how the early Mayans of Central America created a god out of food
Published on Thursday, 28th January 2010.
Neil MacGregor tells the colourful tale of four Egyptian clay cows older than the pyramids
Published on Wednesday, 27th January 2010.
Neil MacGregor's material history of human society - the story of two lovers
Published on Tuesday, 26th January 2010.
Neil MacGregor reveals how man-made objects reflect the story of human development
Published on Monday, 25th January 2010.
Published on Friday, 22nd January 2010.
Neil MacGregor investigates how humanity's development is reflected in the things it makes
Published on Thursday, 21st January 2010.
Neil MacGregor continues his history of human society with the story of a handaxe
Published on Wednesday, 20th January 2010.
Every object has a story; Neil MacGregor continues his material history of human society
Published on Tuesday, 19th January 2010.
Neil MacGregor retells humanity's history through the objects it has made
Published on Monday, 18th January 2010.
