The poet John Betjeman surveys house and garden through the centuries. Fortified castle, stately palace, village cottage, suburban semi and tower block - all seen from an aerial view that is romantic, poetic, and sometimes quite outspoken.

Transport from the Iron Age to the Helicopter Age, from ridgeways to canals, railways to motorways. What we have gained and what we have lost in our search for speed.

The fortifications that have successfully defended this island against invasion from Caesar to Hitler - and beyond. John Terraine surveys Roman forts, mediaeval castles, 19th century coastal defences, radar installations, rocket launchers.

Historian Correlli Barnett traces the rise of British industry from early beginnings,in monks' forges and weaver villages, to pit heads and power stations, jump jets and the launch of Britain's largest ship.

From Cornish clifftops, wild and bare, to crowds at Weston-super-Mare, whatever paddles, surfs or sails, braves the waves or rides the gales; Bournemouth, Butlin's and Torquay - the Seaside seen as History.