The Invention Of... Folgen

The extraordinary tale of how a small fortressed city became the centre of the largest contiguous landmass in the world, presented by Misha Glenny. It was Peter the Great who created a new capital on the Baltic, and Catherine the Great who extended Russian influence south and west. Sweden, Poland, and the Ottomans all feel the expansion of Russia's empire in a century of geopolitical drama. This is the build up to today's war in Ukraine. With contributions from Virginia Rounding, biographer of Catherine the Great; Professor Simon Dixon of UCL; Professor Robert Service, author of The Last Tsar; and Dr Sarah Young of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies.The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Russia's empire was not like that of Britain or France. It was built by expanding across the land, so much more like the United States of America. Presenter Misha Glenny speaks to James Hill of the New York Times about travelling to the edges, and also to Janet Hartley, author of Siberia: A History of the People. Plus further contributions from Ukrainian academic Olesya Khromeychuk; Anna Reid, author of Borderland; and the Tblisi-based journalist, Natalia Antelava, editor-in-chief at Coda Story.The producer for BBC audio in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Countries look so cohesive on the map - sturdy borders, familiar shapes. Don't be misled; they didn't always look like this. This is the story of Russia, biggest contiguous country on the planet, told from the time when it was very small. "In my producer's history textbook it says here, page 18, that Russia as a political entity did not exist." With contributions across the series from Janet Hartley, author of a history of the Volga; Rhodric Braithwaite, former ambassador to Moscow; historian and sociologist, Mischa Gabowitsch; Anthony Beevor; Natalia Antelava; Kateryna Khinkulova; Dominic Lieven; Olesya Khromeychuk; and James Hill of the New York Times.This is the latest in the How to Invent a Country series which has previously been to Poland, Brazil, Germany and the USA. Presenter Misha Glenny is the author of McMafia and former BBC Central Europe correspondent The producer for BBC audio in Bristol is Miles Warde