Jonathan Freedland compares Theresa May's woes now with those of Arthur Balfour in 1903-06, taking the long view of prime ministers confronted with deep divisions in their own party. In the early 1900s Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was faced with a seemingly irreconcilable split in his party. Back then, Balfour’s Conservatives were tearing themselves apart over Imperial Preference - a proposal for a free trade zone within the British Empire. Advocates of Imperial Preference saw it as vital...

Jonathan Freedland and guests take the Long View on the expulsion of Russian diplomats - both in 2018 after the Skripal poisionings and in 1927 after a notorious raid of a building in London's Moorgate. The story begins in 12 King's Bench Walk in London's Inner Temple, where on 9th May 1927 MI5's head of anti-Soviet work met with Edward Langston a whistle-blower who revealed that a secret military document had been in the possession of the Soviets in the Head Quarters of the All Russian...

Jonathan Freedland compares safety on the railways in the 1830s to the debate around driverless cars today. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened to great fanfare on 15 September 1830. It was clear this new form of transport would radically transform society. Yet the day was overshadowed by the death of William Huskisson MP who stepped on the tracks and was struck by Stephenson's Rocket as it steamed down the line. With the the first death to result from driverless vehicles in...

Jonathan Freedland and guests compare the Facebook Cambridge Analytica data row with Luther's rejection of Purgatory and a loss of trust in the Church in pre-Reformation Europe. With Diarmaid MacCulloch. Professor of the History of the Church; Mic Wright, technology writer; Emily Taylor, associate fellow of Chatham House and editor of the Journal of Cyber Policy; Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Digital Minister and actor Anton Lesser. Producer: Georgia Catt.

The Long View marks a year to go to Brexit. Jonathan Freedland & guests consider multiple historical scenarios when Britons faced a new and uncertain direction for their collective island fate. Dr Erin Goeres uncovers a little known story of 11th Century Brexit & unhappy Anglo Saxons. David Andress details how Britain weathered war & a Napoleonic trade ban but workers rights were challenged. Whilst in May 1940 a strengthened alliance with France promised a second chance for Europe...

Jonathan Freedland and guests take The Long View of Donald Trump's trade plans. The United States slapping hefty tariffs on goods from abroad in order to protect their industries at home is the story now, but also just a few years after the founding of the American Republic. The man imposing the tariffs, the then Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. Producer: Georgia Catt.

Jonathan Freedland compares the Catalonia crisis with a moment in Cornish history.

Jonathan Freedland explores the parallels between recent alleged Russian state interference in the American and other foreign elections, and covert British activities of the British Security Coordination (BSC), a secret arm of MI6 founded in May 1940. The motivations in each case are very different of course but some of the methods used then and now are very similar and offer an interesting parallel. Based in New York, BSC was initially simply the MI6 regional station in North America, it's...

Jonathan Freedland compares the plight of black cab drivers with the fate of London's watermen. For centuries watermen had a monopoly on Thames river crossings until advances in new technology allowed for bridges to be built across the river in the mid 18th Century. The men who ferried passengers on the Thames lost their jobs and livelihood. Today, technology threatens the modern day taxi business with the rise of smartphone app Uber and the dawn of the driverless car. As automation and...

Jonathan Freedland compares Theresa May's weakened premiership with that of Liberal prime minister Lord Rosebery in 1894-5. MPs Iain Duncan Smith and Grant Shapps join Jonathan to examine what lessons can be learned. Rosebery was appointed to the premiership as a unity candidate, chosen to heal rifts in the Liberal Party caused by the issue of Home Rule. But Rosebery had powerful rivals in his cabinet - most notably the chancellor Sir William Harcourt. As the months passed, Rosebery's...

In the space of a few short years the male beard has made a striking return to British life. Footballers, actors, fashionable hipsters and hirsute labourers are far more likely to wear some form of facial hair than they were in the recent past. The beard used to be the marker of a particular mindset, usually involving real ale, wholesome living and a disregard for the strictures of conventional living. Now the wearing of a tidy, well-barbered beard is far less likely to raise an eyebrow. And...

In 1883 a grass-roots political organisation was founded that re-shaped Victorian politics. The Primrose League signed up a million members and an army of Conservative activists who helped win elections by reaching out to new Tory voters in industrial cities and rural shires. Today another innovative grass-roots organisation is proving influential. Emerging from Jeremy Corbyn's 2015 leadership campaign, Momentum has proved highly effective at winning over new Labour voters, swapping the...

Jonathan Freedland compares cyber-attacks today with the Great Siege of Dover Castle in 1216 during which the French used new offensive techniques to try to seize the English throne. In 1216, Prince Louis of France's near-successful bid for the English throne climaxed in Dover, where his forces used a multitude of techniques in a major assault on the castle - including digging beneath the castle gate and use of the trebuchet to attempt to breach the walls. Jonathan draws on this medieval...

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of landmark fires exploring the parallels between the tragedies of the Watson Street fire in Glasgow in 1905 and Grenfell Tower. In the East End of Glasgow in 1905 a 'Model Lodging House' at 39 Watson Street caught fire. It housed 300 poor working men, many of them migrants from Ireland and the Highlands. The lodging house itself was densely populated with men sleeping in wood lined cubicles and with only one exit to the street through a turnstile. The...

As we prepare to leave the EU, Jonathan Freedland compares overseas trade in today's Elizabethan age with that of the sixteenth century. In 1570 Elizabeth I was the subject of a Papal Bull of Excommunication, Theresa May must write a letter to Europe to trigger Article 50. Both documents will have a profound impact on trade. Elizabeth's response to her European troubles was to forge new trade links with the East, sending merchants to Turkey, Persia and North Africa. Today's trade ministers...

Jonathan Freedland compares the current wave of fake news stories, particularly those targeted at Muslims and immigrants in the UK, with the anti-Semitic story of an eight-year-old Christian boy, William of Norwich, who was murdered in woodland outside his native city in 1144. His death was later reported as a Jewish conspiracy and ritual, becoming the founding myth of the so-called 'blood libel'. Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland compares Donald Trump's proposed border wall with the impenetrable 2500 mile Great Hedge of India constructed in the 1840s to control trade between British India and the Princely States. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

The Long View of Brexit, comparing it with the English Reformation. Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch is the lead historian explaining that Henry VIII broke away from the Ecclesiastical control of Rome with the help of his 'fixer' Thomas Cromwell. However, Cromwell's ambitions were driven by his Protestantism whereas Henry was interested in securing his legacy and not making substantial changes to the national religion. In the event it wasn't Henry but his second daughter Elizabeth who enshrined...

As Hillary Clinton becomes the official Democrat candidate for US President, with aim of becoming the first woman to take that role, Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of pioneering women politicians, examining how Nancy Astor became the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons - in a constituency previously represented by her husband. Astor faced intense press scrutiny, and a presumption that she should focus on issues such as child welfare - but she also enjoyed the renown...

Military drones today and the Nazi V1 and V2 weapons. With Jonathan Freedland

As pre-season training gets underway and transfer business goes on a-pace Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of celebrity Football management. The new season will see the clash of several of the world's greatest managers lead by Jose Mourinho of Manchester United and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City. It was a similar story in Manchester back in the mid 1960s. Matt Busby had been at United since the war building championship winning teams and a formidable reputation. City were...

Jonathan Freedland focuses on the rise of Donald Trump through the prism of the past, by examining the careers of three high-profile 20th century Americans who became rich, famous and entered the political arena. Jonathan's guests include Professor Anthony J. Badger, former Paul Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge University; James P. Rubin, who was the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President Bill Clinton; Robert Singh, who is Professor of Politics at...

With the annual surge in online dating at the start of the New Year, Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of internet dating by looking at a social network from 1898 devised to bring strangers together in marriage or companionship. The 'Round About', set up by newspaper editor and philanthropist WT Stead, encouraged subscribers to submit a profile and a photo and an album of users would be sent out monthly to other subscribers. Potential suitors could then correspond via the "Conductor" at...

Jonathan Freedland examines current debates about ethical shopping and production, in the light of early 19th century campaigns to boycott goods which involved slave labour. Producer Clare Walker.

Jonathan Freedland finds out how today's concerns about the privacy of our communications, and debates about encryption, have intriguing precedents in the 17th century. Producer Clare Walker.