Empire (1st of 90) -- No grand plan

How was it that the people of a small island race off the European mainland came to dominate the world? That is perhaps the most intriguing question of the British Empire. Even the term 'Empire' means something different today than it did in the days of Henry VIII or Elizabeth I's astrologer John Dee. Dee is said to have put the idea of colonial expansion in the queen's mind.

"This Sceptred Isle: Empire" is a narrative history of the British Empire from Ireland in the 12th century to the independence of India in the 20th, told in 90 programmes written by historian Christopher Lee and narrated by actor Juliet Stevenson. (You will be able to listen again online to up to five most recent episodes of "Empire".)

The British, at the peak of their Imperial powers in the late 19th century, 'owned' a quarter of the people in the world. Some 440 million people came under the British flag. That is roughly the population of modern-day Europe. Half the cargoes in the world were carried in British registered ships. Most banking and insurance was done through London.

The Empire was the best and constant market for the goods produced in Britain's industrial revolution. Without the Empire, Britain would have struggled to balance her national budget. The two world wars of the 20th century could be so named because, apart from Japan, the war involved the global states and dominions of the British Empire.

Given this huge constitutional and historical structure, it is inevitable that our story of the British Empire raises fundamental and sometimes uncomfortable questions for the people of these islands. Was the Empire the biggest example of international asset stripping the world has ever seen? Was it built on cruel slavery? Without it, would Britain have become an obscure archipelago off the coast of continental Europe? Would there have been need of a Marlborough, a Nelson, a Wellington, even a Churchill?

The answers to these questions would seem obvious. But they are not. At the end of the ninety parts in this series, however, all these notions will have been explored and the answers laid out clearly for all to see. Yet be warned: even with logical and reasoned answers, the Empire story remains as controversial as ever.