In his most personal project to date, Simon Schama looks back at the dramatic history that has played out in his lifetime.
Best known for writing history, he has lived a fair bit of it too. Born in 1945, on the night of the bombing of Dresden, Simon grew up as part of a generation determined to rebuild the world from the ashes of war. In this film he reveals the stories of artists and writers who have been at the forefront of the fight for truth and democracy.
From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Boris Pasternak and Vaclav Havel, Simon reveals the extraordinary power of art to shape the world, and the immense personal cost of creating work that dares to speak truth to power. Simon also meets contemporary artists Nadya Tolokonnikova and Ai Weiwei.
Starts Sunday 27th November on BBC 2 and iPlayer.