The BBC A Century on Air

For lovers of Masterpiece Theater and watchers of the Crown, a sumptuous social history of the most British institution imaginable, that none the less was filled with brilliant emigres, pioneered liberal freedoms as it slyly impressed British superiority, and was both a chronicler and creator of some of the great events of the last hundred years.

 For 100 years, the British Broadcasting Corporation has served as a rare and extraordinary institution in the UK. A constant source of information, comfort and entertainment, through both war and peace, the BBC celebrates its centenary as a rare establishment that continues to serve and provide for people around the world.

In The BBC former BBC producer David Hendy, an expert in broadcasting and cultural history who has privileged access to previously unused behind-the-scenes resources, tells the history of an extraordinary institution; the oldest national public broadcaster in the world. In doing so, he presents a broader cultural history of Britain, weaving into its fabric the wider world of politics, the arts, social change, and everyday life. This book is a deep examination of  an extraordinary institution – woven so deeply into the culture and politics of the past century that almost none of us has been left untouched by it.

David Hendy is Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Sussex. His books include Life on Air: a History of Radio Four, which won the 2008 History Today-Longman Book of the Year Award and was nominated for the Orwell Prize.