Dan Cruickshank

As the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew prepare to celebrate their 250th anniversary, Dan Cruickshank unearths some of the surprising stories that shaped the famous gardens. His travels take him from the royal gardens to the corridors of power and the outposts of Empire as he pieces together Kew's story, uncovering tales of bravery, high adventure, passion and drama.

As good as any Dickens novel, this is the triumphant and tragic story of the greatest architectural dynasty of the 19th century. Dan Cruickshank charts the rise of Sir George Gilbert Scott to the very heights of success, the fall of his son George Junior and the rise again of his grandson Giles. It is a story of architects bent on a mission to rebuild Britain. From the Romantic heights of the Midland Hotel at St Pancras station to the modern image of Bankside power station (now Tate Modern), this is the story of a family that shaped the Victorian age and left a giant legacy.

Ludwig II of Bavaria, more commonly known by his nicknames the Swan King or the Dream King, is a legendary figure - the handsome boy-king, loved by his people, betrayed by his cabinet and found dead in tragic and mysterious circumstances. He spent his life in pursuit of the ideal of beauty, an ideal that found expression in three of the most extraordinary, ornate architectural schemes imaginable - the castle of Neuschwanstein and the palaces of Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. Today, these three buildings are among Germany's biggest tourist attractions. Dan Cruickshank explores the rich aesthetic of Ludwig II - from the mock-medievalism of Neuschwanstein, the iconic fairytale castle that became the inspiration for the one in Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty, to the rich Baroque splendour of Herrenchiemsee, Ludwig's answer to Versailles. Dan argues that Ludwig's castles are more than flamboyant kitsch and are, in fact, the key to unravelling the eternal enigma of Ludwig II.

The British invented them for the world, and they have been described as 'the lungs of the city - historian Dan Cruickshank reveals the history of our public parks.

British architectural historian Dan Cruickshank explores the world's most unusual and interesting buildings, structures and sites, believing that architecture and a culture's aspirations and beliefs are intertwined. Among his visits are the Leshan Giant Buddha in China, St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, Kizhi Island in Russia and Pompeii in Italy.

Dan Cruickshank explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what it is. He uncovers stories of Bronze-Age relics emerging from the Vauxhall shore, of why London Bridge was falling down, of midnight corpses splashing beneath Waterloo Bridge, and above all, of the sublime ambition of London's bridge builders themselves.

Historian Dan Cruickshank and photographer Don McCullin venture into the heart of war-torn Syria on a dangerous mission to document the cultural destruction wrought by ISIS.

Islamic State has declared war on the most important and romantic ancient architectural sites in the world. Jihadi fighters seek the total destruction of the wonders of the ancient world that gave us writing, the wheel and the first cities. Dan Cruickshank charts the likely course of Islamic State's destructive advance and asks how this can be happening and what we can do to stop them.

Dan Cruickshank reveals the extraordinary story behind the design and building of iconic First World War memorials and explores the idea behind the creation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

In 1728, 12-year-old James Annesley was snatched from the streets of Dublin and sold into slavery in America - the victim of a wicked uncle hell-bent on stealing his massive inheritance. Dan Cruickshank traces James's astonishing journey from the top table of 18th century society to its murky depths. The story, which helped inspire Robert Louis Stevenson's book Kidnapped, reveals some disturbing home truths that cast a shadow over the century of the Enlightenment.

Dan Cruickshank returns to his childhood home of Warsaw for the first time in almost 60 years. In a personal and moving film, he recalls his boyhood memories to explore the memories of the city and the memories of its people. No city in Europe suffered so much destruction in the Second World War, no city rose up so heroically from the ashes. The Nazis had razed Warsaw to the ground, but after the war the people fought hard to bring their city back from the dead in one of the greatest reconstruction jobs in history. As a boy, Cruickshank lived in the rebuilt old town and it inspired his love of architecture and made him the man he is today.

Dan Cruickshank explores one of Britain’s last Victorian country homes, Tyntesfield, a Gothic fantasy frozen in time and a monument to the Victorian age.

The 17th century saw London plunge into a series of devastating disasters. The Civil War, a murderous plague, and the destruction of the great fire should have all but destroyed the small medieval city, but somehow it not only survived - it thrived. Dan Cruickshank explores how London survived the travails of the 17th century.

Dan Cruickshank examines how Victorian society confronted the issue of death by piecing together the fate of five seemingly unrelated corpses. His detective work uncovers bodysnatching, overflowing inner-city graveyards and lavish cemeteries. He also explores the Victorian resistance to cremation, and changing attitudes following the Great War. First aired during Victoria Week 2001, re-aired in 2002 as an episode of Timewatch.

This unique recreation of an 18th-century home, in London's Spitalfields, has to be seen to be believed. Dan Cruickshank smells the rotting food and warms his hands by the roaring fires and asks whether this living museum is really more accurate than a National Trust treasure, or just an eccentric one-off from its outlandish Californian creator, the late Dennis Severs. A follow-up of sorts to the 1985 BBC series Ours to Keep episode "Incomers" focused on this residence.

Cruickshank takes a five-month world tour visiting his choices of the eighty greatest man-made treasures, including buildings and artifacts. His tour takes him through 34 countries and 6 of the 7 continents. In addition to seeing some of the world's greatest treasures, Cruickshank tries many different kinds of food including testicle, brain, and insects. His means of transportation included airplanes, trains, camel, donkey, foot, bicycle, scooter, hang glider, and boats.

Examines the recent discovery of 800 short films from the Edwardian Age, made by pioneering film-makers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon.

Historian and writer Dan Cruickshank celebrates architecture as a creative force as he explores the world's greatest cities, buildings and monuments.

Climb up on the footplate and join historian and host Dan Cruickshank for a railway adventure like no other as he investigates how trains helped shape modern Britain. This three-part series resurrects an exhilarating age and kicks off by focusing on the railways' role in defeating Hitler, before unearthing the incredible engineering achievements of Isambard Brunel and embarking on a trip on the earliest steam engines.

Dan Cruickshank takes an up-close-and-personal look at the place we are all familiar with but rarely stop to question – our home. Why are those stairs at that angle? Why is the kitchen at the back of the house? Why are some houses made of wattle and daub, and some of brick? And why do some live in a terrace and some in a flat? How did the British home end up looking the way it does – and why?

Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank is a BBC Television documentary series in which Dan Cruickshank explores the mysteries of Ancient Egypt.

From the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace, Dan Cruickshank tells the story of a thousand years of palace building, the mystery of why so many have vanished and the magic of the ones that survive.

Dan Cruickshank retraces pioneering 1920s filmmaker Claude Friese-Greene's route around Britain. Dan travels through Wales and the Midlands to the Lakes.

What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us is a BBC documentary series produced in conjunction with the Open University that examines the impact of the Industrial Revolution on modern society. It was originally broadcast on BBC Two in autumn 2003.

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

Series looking at aspects of British metalworking over the centuries, including the art of the silversmith, the history of armour and the work of the blacksmith.

Britain's railways were key to the development of Britain - they helped facilitate the Industrial Revolution, the suburbs- and the commuter - and created popular holiday destinations. They've even inspired poetry, film and song. Combining contemporary train journeys with ITN's extensive archive this series provides a unique and revealing history of Britain's railroads and our engineering evolution. In each episode our presenter will take a different rail journey across the UK, use historical rail guides, board classic trains, experience captivating views and explore fascinating histories and personal stories. We'll hear stories of success - and learn about the disasters which pushed the engineering forward.

Dan Cruickshank and Charlie Luxton uncover the incredible hidden stories behind historic buildings as they are dismantled brick by brick and meticulously resurrected in new locations.

A BBC documentary series in which Dan Cruickshank examines attempts and plans to invade Britain and Ireland over the years by exploring coastal fortresses and defensive structures around the coast of the country to discover their military heritage.

Series in which presenters explore architecture in the footsteps of Nikolaus Pevsner.