The first thing to say about Civilisations: Rise and Fall (BBC Two) is that it has nothing to do with Sir Kenneth Clark’s 1969 series Civilisation, despite the BBC telling us otherwise. In ...

For 250 years, Japan has thrived, largely cut off from western influence - until US gunboats arrive. In the face of an industrialised west, how will reformers, the shogun and the samurai class react?

Four mighty civilisations - Rome, Egypt, Japan's Samurai and the Aztecs. Their legends remain - now priceless artefacts reveal what led them to fall into the echoes of history.