All ten episodes of BBC Radio 4’s ambitious global series, presented simply by Neil MacGregor

‘Insightful, provocative, gratifying’ Telegraph

With the uk around the brink of potentially momentous change, historian and broadcaster Neil MacGregor embarks on a worldwide voyage to find how Britain is perceived from abroad.

Going to Germany, Egypt, Nigeria, Canada, India, Singapore, the United States, Spain, Australia and Poland – all countries with significant historical links about While Others Observe Us: The BBC Radio 4 series to the UK – he talks to leading opinion formers to learn the way they, as individuals and people of their wider communities, discover Britain.

His interviewees reveal what they learnt about Britain at school, and exactly how key events and cultural influences, aswell as their own private experiences, have shaped their impressions of the country now. Each includes a defining picture that symbolises the UK to them: from Shakespeare to Monty Python, the 1966 World Glass, the Suez Problems, the Financial Instances, ’99’ snow cream and The Crown.

Throughout his travels, MacGregor uncovers tensions and frustrations, admiration and affection – along with an underlying sense of hope and a desire to retain close links with Britain as it prepares to reevaluate its relationship with Europe and the world.