Invention of Childhood, 5th of 6 [audio 60min]

In six hour-long episodes, Michael Morpurgo, former Children's Laureate of Great Britain, examines the stories of the lives of British children over the last thousand years, epoque by epoque. Episode 5: Into the 20th century. As his story of British childhood moves into the first half of the twentieth century, Michael Morpurgo explores the impact of the Empire on children -- the ones in Britain, the ones sent away to start new lives in Canada and Australia, and the ones who came from elsewhere to settle here and make new lives for themselves and their families. Michael also traces the surprising story of how three dreadful wars ultimately benefited British children, leading to the establishment of our Welfare State. All this before the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1870. Read by Timothy West, Sara Kestelman, Anna Maxwell Martin and Adam Godley.