A story 250 years in the making. How 13 British colonies on the Atlantic coast rose up in rebellion, won their independence and gave birth to a new nation.

Opposition in colonial North America to British policies escalates into violence. But war gives 13 otherwise disunited colonies a common cause.

George Washington takes command of the Continental Army and joins New England’s fight to liberate Boston. Congress declares American independence.

The British overwhelm Washington’s army, forcing him to abandon New York City and flee across New Jersey. Americans attack a garrison at Trenton

The British take Philadelphia, and Congress flees the city. But an American victory at Saratoga allows France to openly support the United States.

After Valley Forge and Monmouth, the war moves to other theatres. Armies advance in Indian country and the south

Supported by the French, Washington wins the decisive victory at Yorktown. In peacetime, Americans aspire for a more perfect union.

Bettany Hughes' definitive history of the ancient world and classical civilisation

Through their superlative buildings, the legacy of the Egyptian empire continues to enthrall people to this day. Yet these incredible structures were made over 4,000 years ago.

Bettany Hughes searches for the truth about the 'Golden Age' of Ancient Athens, investigating how a barren rock wedged between the East and West became the first democracy 2,500 years ago.

Three cities dominated the ancient world: Athens, Rome and a third, now almost forgotten. It lies hidden beneath the waters of the Mediterranean and a sprawling modern metropolis.

A new film about Alexandria provides the centrepiece of Bettany Hughes' definitive history of the ancient world and classical civilisation.

Bettany Hughes traces the story of the mysterious and misunderstood Moors, the Islamic society that ruled in Spain for 700 years, but whose legacy was virtually erased from Western history.

Critic and art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels from southern to northern Spain to tell the story of some of Europe's most exciting and vital art. He journeys to the country’s scorched centre to explore Spanish art of the 16th and 17th centuries. From the mystical world of El Greco to the tender genius of Velazquez, this was a moment so extraordinary it became known as the Golden Age. But beneath the glittering surface was a dark and savage heart.

A true TV landmark. Dr Jacob Bronowski’s epic series unravelling of the making of mankind that spellbound audiences in the 1970s.

Jacob Bronowski opens the first programme at man's birthplace, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, and traces the evolution of man's unique gifts - foresight and imagination.

Dr Jacob Bronowski tells the story of the men and ideas that gave concrete expression to the invisible, intangible structure that lies beneath all matter.

Dr Jacob Bronowski considers how the great achievement of physics in the 20th century has been to show that absolute certainty, in science or outside of it, is beyond our grasp.

Dr Jacob Bronowski follows the history of genetics, from the lonely experiments of Gregor Mendel to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Should we see human sexuality as a gift?

From his home, Dr Jacob Bronowski takes stock of man's complex and often precarious ascent, drawing on experiences from his own lifetime.

Jacob Bronowski looks at how man moved from nomadic pasturage to settled agriculture, with the domestication of the horse and the cultivation of wheat.

Jacob Bronowski discovers the origins of science in the interaction of hand and brain, by which man uncovers the laws of nature through building, architecture and sculpture

Jacob Bronowski explores the roots of chemistry, from the techniques of ancient metallurgy in China and Japan to the mystical searchings of the alchemists.

Dr Bronowski gives his own novel proof of Pythagoras' famous theorem and traces the spread of Greek ideas through the Islamic empire to Moorish Spain and Renaissance Europe.

Man has always wondered about the movement of the stars, sun and planets. Dr Jacob Bronowski looks at the work of Copernicus and the life, work and trial of Galileo.

If the world could be understood by just two men, they may be Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Dr Jacob Bronowski explores how their theories are connected by light.

As political revolutions shook France and America, another quieter, yet more profound restructuring was taking place in Britain - the Industrial Revolution.

How did life begin on earth? Dr Jacob Bronowski recounts the adventures of Alfred Russell Wallace, and how they triggered off the ideas of Charles Darwin.

100 years ago, just 67 words on a single sheet of paper lit a fire in the Holy Land, igniting the most intractable conflict of modern times.

Ten years on from the global financial crash, this documentary tells the extraordinary story of how a small Scottish bank briefly grew to become the biggest in the world before collapsing and triggering the largest financial bail-out in British history.