A History of the World in 100 Objects 2t1s52

Peter Lewis tells a story of love, separation and hardship, through the object he added to the BBC History of the World website: a portrait of a private soldier's sweetheart, painted secretly for his Uncle Bryn in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

A lamp that runs off sunlight. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at the final object in the series: a solar-powered lamp with a charger that can bring cheap light and power to people around the world with no access to the electric grid. Simple, cheap and clean – is this the revolutionary technology of our future? With contributions from Aloka Sarder, a mother and adult student in West Bengal, and Nick Stern, expert on the economics of climate change.

A plastic credit card. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the changing role of money in the modern world by looking at a Shari'a compliant credit card. How is modern banking adapting for new markets and what are the moral issues confronting global finance? With contributions from Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, and Razi Fakih of HSBC bank.

Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things. Throughout this week he is examining objects that speak of the great shifts in human organisation and thinking in the modern world - objects that raise questions about human lives, the environment and global resources. So far this week he has chosen things that deal with political and sexual revolution and that confront the disaster of global arms proliferation. In today's episode he considers the morality of modern global finance and its implication for the future. He tells the story with a credit card that is compliant with Islamic Sharia law - what does that mean and how does it work? He talks to the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, and to Razi Fakih of the HSBC bank. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

Chair made from decommissioned guns. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the impact of weapons on the modern world by examining a sculptured throne made from decommissioned guns. The weapons are remnants of the Mozambique civil war - a conflict that claimed almost one million lives. With contributions by the artist, Kester, and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The history of humanity, as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London, is drawing to an end. Throughout this week, Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum in London, has been with things that help explain the modern world. He has explored political and sexual politics and freedoms, and now reflects on the impact of guns and weapons in the modern world - especially in Africa where thousands of children have been participants in brutal conflicts. He tells the story through a work of art - a sculptured throne made from decommissioned guns like the ubiquitous AK47. We hear from Kester, the artist from Mozambique who created the Throne of Weapons and test the reaction to the piece of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

Print by the British artist David Hockney. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the sexual revolution of the 1960s through a print by David Hockney which shows two men in bed together. The work was one of a series created as the British government was planning to decriminalise sex between male partners over the age of 21. Including contributions by the artist himself and Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty.

This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is examining the forces that helped shape our way of life and ways of thinking today. He began with the political revolution that exploded In Russia in the 1920s and today he moves on to the sexual revolution of the 1960s. He explores the emergence of legally enshrined human rights and the status of sexuality around the world. He tells the story with the aid of a David Hockney print, one of a series that was made in 1966 as the decriminalisation of homosexuality was being planned, at least in Britain. We hear from David Hockney on the spirit of the decade and from Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the human rights group Liberty Producer: Anthony Denselow.

Decorated plate from St Petersburg. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the Russian Revolution by looking at a plate painted with propaganda for the new Communist state. The plate was made at the Imperial Porcelain Factory, St Petersburg, in 1901 but was decorated 20 years later in the same factory, which had become the State Porcelain Factory in the newly-named city of Petrograd. With contributions by Mikhail Piotrovsky and Eric Hobsbawn.

Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things that time has left behind. Throughout this closing week he is examining some of the major social and political movements that have helped shape our contemporary landscape. Today he tells the remarkable story of a Russian plate. It was made in 1901 in the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg. Twenty years later it was painted over as a propaganda tool for the new Communist Revolution - decorated in the same factory that had become the State Porcelain Factory and in a city renamed as Petrograd. The director of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Mikhail Piotrovsky, and the great historian of modern Russia, Eric Hobsbawn, help piece together this momentous history. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

A defaced coin from 1903. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the rise of mass political engagement in Britain and the emergence of the suffragettes by examining a penny coin, on which the image of Edward VII has been defaced with the words 'Votes for women'. With contributions from Helena Kennedy QC and the artist Felicity Powell.

Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects from the British Museum in London. The objects he has chosen this week have reflected on mass production and mass consumption in the 19th century. Today' he is with the first object from the 20th century, a coin that leads Neil to consider the rise of mass political engagement in Britain and the dramatic emergence of suffragette power. It's a penny coin from 1903 on which the image of King Edward V11 has been stamped with the words "Votes for Women". The programme explores the rise of women's suffrage and the implications of the notorious suffragette protests. The human rights lawyer and reformer Helena Kennedy and the artist Felicity Powell react to this defaced penny coin. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

A wooden drum from central Africa. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines a buffalo-shaped drum from Sudan which was played in a court orchestra and used to transmit messages or summon warriors to war. The drum was captured by the British and Egyptian army at the Battle of Omdurman, near Khartoum, in 1898 and presented to Queen Victoria by Lord Kitchener.

The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London. This week Neil MacGregor, the Director of the Museum, is looking at Europe's engagement with the rest of the world during the 18th Century. Today he is with an object "freighted with layers of history, legend, global politics and race relations". It is an aboriginal shield from Australia, originally owned by one of the men to first set eyes on Europeans as they descended on Botany Bay nearly 250 years ago. This remarkably well-preserved object was brought to England by the explorer Captain Cook. What can this object tell us about the early encounter between two such different cultures? Phil Gordon, the aboriginal Heritage Officer at the Australian Museum in Sydney, and the historian Maria Nugent help tell the story. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

Hokusai woodblock print. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines The Great Wave by Hokusai, one of the defining images of the power of the sea. He discovers its production initiated a wider awareness of Japanese art and became emblematic of the opening up of the country in the second half of the 19th century. With contributions by Donald Keene and Christine Guth.

The history of humanity - as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London - is once again in Japan. This week Neil MacGregor, the museum's director, is looking at the global economy in the 19th century - at mass production and mass consumption. Today he is with an image that rapidly made its way around the world - Hokusai's print, The Great Wave, the now familiar seascape with a snow topped Mount Fuji in the background that became emblematic of the newly emerging Japan. Neil explores the conditions that produced this famous image - with help from Japan watchers Donald Keene and Christine Guth. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

Wedgwood pottery tea set. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at the history of Britain's relationship with tea by examining an early Victorian stoneware set made by the Staffordshire pottery firm of Wedgwood. He discovers how mass-produced pottery and porcelain popularised the beverage. With contributions by Celina Fox and Monique Simmonds.

This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is looking at how the global economy became cemented in the 19th century, a time of mass production and mass consumption. He tells the story of how tea became the defining national drink in Britain - why have we become so closely associated with a brew made from leaves mainly grown in China and India? The object he has chosen to reflect this curious history is an early Victorian tea set, made in Staffordshire and perfectly familiar to all of us. The historian Celina Fox and Monique Simmonds from Kew gardens find new meaning in the ubiquitous cuppa. Producer: Anthony Denselow.

A 19th century chronometer. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at an instrument that first helped Europeans to navigate with precision around the world - a marine chronometer. In particular the chronometer that accompanied Charles Darwin on his historic voyage around the world on board HMS Beagle. With contributions by geographer Nigel Thrift and geneticist Steve Jones.

Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things. Throughout this week he is examining the global economy of the 19th century - of mass production and mass consumption. Today he is with an instrument that first helped Europeans to navigate with precision around the world - a marine chronometer. The one Neil has chosen actually accompanied Darwin on his great voyage to South America and the Galapagos Islands - a journey that was to help lead him to his revolutionary theories on evolution. The geographer Nigel Thrift and the geneticist Steve Jones celebrate the chronometer and the profound changes it prompted. Producer: Anthony Denselow.