This Sceptred Isle

Empire

Volume 2 - 1783-1876

BBC Radio 4 series

This is volume 2 of the eagerly-awaited follow-up to Christopher Lee's highly-acclaimed and award-winning BBC Radio 4 series. BBC Radio 4's monumental history of Britain picks up the story of the British Empire at the point where the American colonies have become the United States of America with their triumph over General Cornwallis and the British army at Yorktown in 1781. These are the years when British influence grew steadily around the globe, years when Britain took full advantage of the technical advances of its industrial revolution until it could be truly said that its Empire was one on which the sun never set. Here are the origins of the modern nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and of the ways in which British influence has affected - for better or for worse - nations such as India, Sri Lanka, and China. Here are the stories - not always happy and glorious - of Captain James Cook, Mungo Park, Warren Hastings, Sir Stamford Raffles and David Livingstone. This part of the story culminates in Queen Victoria being proclaimed Empress of India in 1876, the central symbol of some of the most potent imperial imagery. But just as the Empire itself was built not as the result of any grand plan, so the seeds of its twentieth century move towards independence from Britain were simultaneously and unwittingly being sown.

 

Audio Book

6 x CD

7 Hours 30 Minutes

 

VERY GOOD

Tested - Plays Well.

GRADING INFORMATIO

MINT Not a word to be used lightly. All CDs will be damaged to some extent when they are used, even when great care is taken putting the disc in or taking the disc out of the player. I will only use this word to describe a disc I have reason to believe has never been used, this will usually mean it will be described as new but the word mint is there just in case I need it.

EXCELLENT A disc that looks like it has never been used even though I know it has. Perfect, scratch free condition.

VERY GOOD As previously stated, all CDs will be damaged to some extent when they are used, this usually means that the CD has rubbed against the tray in the player causing light surface scratches or rub marks. These rarely have any effect on play, in fact any CD that does have these marks will have been fully tested before it is allowed into the VERY GOOD grade. The best way to describe it is, if you found the CD in a second hand shop or on a market stall and you checked the disc before buying, you would see the marks but you wouldn't have any doubts about the discs ability to play. A plus or minus sign (+ or -) indicates how close the disc is to being in the higher or lower grade.

GOOD If you found the CD in a second hand shop or on a market stall and you checked the disc before buying, you would hesitate before buying a CD with a GOOD grade without first checking what the returns policy was. It looks like it will play but you wouldn't like to guarantee it. Rest assured, all CDs that I put in the GOOD grade will have been fully tested and be guaranteed to work perfectly (and the return policy ain't bad either). A plus or minus sign (+ or -) indicates how close the disc is to being in the higher or lower grade.

ACCEPTABLE Looks like it won't play but will have been fully tested and is guaranteed to work perfectly.

POOR Everything else. I'll probably throw it in the bin, but if there is a reason I think this might still be of interest to someone I'll explain the problems and the reasons for bothering with it in the listing.