Invisible Hands: Trailer
David Dimbleby traces the history of a hidden force that changed Britain - the free market revolution - and the invisible hands that shaped it.
It started on a chicken farm in Sussex, gained traction in the shadows of post-war London and rose to heights of excess in the new champagne bars of the City. It's 2025 and this once radical idea now defines every aspect of life in Britain. An idea that transformed the economy, politics and, ultimately, society itself.
But how did it happen? Who are the little-known people behind it? What did they want? And - as Donald Trump threatens to overturn the global economic system - is the free market here to stay? Or are we entering a new era?
The History Podcast
In early December 1941, on the outskirts of London, a 14 year old boy is listening to the radio and is surprised as he hears about Japan’s attacks on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor. But what happened hours afterwards is of great concern - Japan’s invasion and air strikes against key British colonies in South East Asia. In his living room in England, next to his map of Europe, the schoolboy puts up a second map of Asia and the Pacific. Over the next three and a half years he charts - on these two maps - the defeats and later victories against Japan, as well as the Nazis. Aged 98 - he speaks of how the faraway war on the Asian Front would end up involving members of his own family.
From the creator and host of the multi award-winning Three Million and Partition Voices - the new series - The Second Map - tells the story of Britain’s war against Japan IN ww2. Marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day we hear of how defeat turned to victory, epic battles in jungles, to one that played out on a tennis court and saved the British Empire. We may know about Pearl Harbour and how the war against Japan ended with the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in popular memory what happened in between, and why Britain was fighting Japan on the Asian front, is less well-known. Even at the time the largest army of almost a million men, was known as the “forgotten army.” Yet it was a war that many thousands of Britons fought in, as well as hundreds of thousands of British colonial subjects.
We hear remarkable testimonies from British, Indian and Japanese soldiers who were there, as well as former prisoners of war and civilian internees. And we speak to descendants across Britain who are uncovering a family member’s story of heroism, imprisonment, and survival.
Creator, Writer and Presenter: Kavita Puri Series Producer: Ellie HouseScript Editor: Ant AdeaneSound Designer: James BeardSeries Editor: Matt WillisProduction Coordinators: Sabine Scherek, Maria Ogundele Original music: Felix TaylorArchive Curator: Tariq HussainVoice actors: Dai Tabuchi, Bhasker Patel Translators: Hannah Kilcoyne, Sumire Hori With thanks to Dr Diya Gupta, Dr Vikki Hawkins, Dr Peter Johnston, Professor Rana Mitter and Tejpal Singh Ralmill.
- No. of episodes: 61
- Latest episode: 2025-07-28
- History
Where can you listen?
