"Before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods-that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors-which lives on in full force to this day. So says anthropologist David Graeber in a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom....

Studies the culture which emerged in Italy during the Renaissance, focusing on developments in statecraft, art, and literature.

In Venice, detective Sigismondo da Roca investigates the killing of an aristocrat, stabbed with a stiletto. What puzzles Sigismondo is the speed with which the victim's brother put his hands on the other's money, at the same time pressing murder charges against a rival. The case is played out against the background of a war with the Turks. By the author of Axe for an Abbot.

In the fascinating Great artist series, we investigate some of the best artists in history - examining their influence, style and what exactly made them so unique. In this double package we examine two giants of Renaissance painting - Titian, noted for his radical approach to light, colour and composition and Raphael, the master of portraiture and balance.