Michael William Balfe (1808-1870), rose to fame in London in 1835 immediately after the premiere of his first opera, The Siege of Rochelle. For the next thirty-five years this musician was destined to be the most important operatic composer in Victorian Britain. This title documents Balfe the man, his work, his legacy & influence. ...

Michael Winterbottom has also established himself, & his company, Revolution Films, as a dynamic force in world cinema. This is a study of the prolific & critically acclaimed director working in British cinema. It uses a range of critical approaches to analyse the filmmaker's eclectic interests in cinema & the world at large. ...

Box set containing all five of the documentary series presented by the dashing historian Michael Wood. ' In Search of the Trojan War' sees Michael travelling to modern Greece & Turkey to discover the truth behind the epic account in Homer's Iliad of the Trojan War. ' In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great' sees Michael following the arduous path of the greatest conqueror in the classical period, through Iran, Afghanistan & India, recreating his journey & using classical sources to determine if Alexander was the benign ruler of legend, or something much darker. ' In Search of Shakespeare' sees the historian coming to grips with the scanty historical evidence for the greatest writer in English literature, & painting a vivid portrait of Elizabethan Engl&. ' In Search of Myths & Heroes' sees Michael exploring some of the most enduring myths of western culture, from Shangri-La to the Holy Grail, & trying to sort the truth from the legend. Finally, in ' Conquistadors', he recreates the journeys of the Spanish explorers & soldiers who opened up the New World, & reveals the horrifying history behind the Spanish war against the Aztec & Inca Empires. ...

In this six-part series, historian Michael Wood embarks on an expedition through today's India, looking to the present for clues to her past, & to the past for clues to her future. The journey takes the viewer through majestic landscapes & reveals some of the greatest monuments & artistic treasures on Earth. From Buddhism to Bollywood, from mathematics to outsourcing, Michael Wood discovers India's impact on history
- & on us.
...

Michael X was the man who knew everyone
- from Muhammad Ali to Alexander Trocchi, Malcolm X to John Lennon, William Burroughs
...

The Michaelmas Fair: a time for trade & celebration. A chance for the people of the Burren to gather, buy & sell their wares & give tribute to the lord of their clans. When the steward of the Mac Namara clan demands more, tempers run high. Then the steward's body is found in the local churchyard; he's been beaten to death. ...