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The History Hour
The 'Cyprus Emergency’ and India’s nuclear mango deal
The History Hour
Mar 21, 2026

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

We hear from a Cypriot lawyer, imprisoned by the British for almost two years during the "Cyprus Emergency” of 1955-1959.

Our guest, Professor Rebecca Bryant, explains how this period impacted life in Cyprus in the following years.

Plus, the story of India’s controversial nuclear deal with the USA in 2006 and when thousands of people rallied against a racially motivated killing in Norway.

We also learn about the questionable conviction of four men in Mauritius, who became known as the L’Amicale Four, and about how Tunisian independence helped improve women’s rights 70 years ago.

And finally, the remarkable story of when the unfancied Czech Republic reached the final of Euro 96.

Contributors:

Renos Lyssiotis - former Cypriot lawyer.

Dr Rebecca Bryant – Professor of cultural anthropology at Utrecht University.

Ronen Sen – former Indian ambassador to the United States.

Luciana Parvaneh Zehi – friend of Benjamin Hermansen.

Imran Sumodhee – one of the L’Amicale Four.

Saida El Gueyed – founding member of the Women’s Union in Tunisia.

Patrik Berger – former Czech footballer.

(Photo: British troops searching for EOAK fighters in 1956. Credit: Bert Hardy/Getty Images)

More Episodes
Aug 15, 2026
The Mau Mau uprising and man-eating lions

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes focussing on Kenya.

We hear about Muthoni Kirima, one of the last Mau Mau fighters to come out of hiding and lay down her arms.

Caroline Elkins, Professor of History at Harvard University, discusses the brutality of the conflict between Kenya’s Land and Freedom Army, the British and Kenyan loyalists.

Next, when Princess Elizabeth became queen while staying at the Treetops Hotel, a lodge in the Aberdare National Park.

In 1997, scientists travelled to Kenya, in search of a cave believed to have been the den of the man-eating lions that terrorised railway workers in 1898.

Plus, we hear how Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed an unprecedented power-sharing deal to end a wave of violence that left more than 1,200 people dead.

And the heartwarming story of the friendship between a baby hippo and a 130-year-old giant tortoise.

Finally for our Sporting Witness story, we head to the first Ultimate Frisbee World Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1983.

Contributors: Caroline Elkins - Professor of History at Harvard University, and author of Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. Muthoni Kirima - Field Marshall in the Kenya Land and Freedom Army. Frank Gillard - BBC correspondent. Thomas Gnoske - Scientist. Alan Patterson - British Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson's grandson. Maina Kiai - Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in 2008. Maini Schildt - Swedish Ultimate Frisbee player.

(Photo: Mau Mau suspects are rounded up by police outside the camp in Manyani, Kenya, 1955. Credit: Getty Images/Authenticated News)


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The 'Cyprus Emergency’ and India’s nuclear mango deal

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