It wasn’t so long ago, actually the last few general elections, where the greater public seemed to have little interest in politics or politicians, as if their decisions had little or no impact on ordinary lives. Since the financial crash people have come to understand that governments and Prime Ministers especially can have a direct and sometimes profound impact.

The Prime Ministers: Series 1 (1 hr, 55 min) is a short history of eight earlier Prime Ministers, written and narrated by the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson, a familiar political commentator on both radio and television.

The series covers the careers and political decisions of Walpole, Lord North, Robert Peel, Lord Palmerstone, Disraeli, Lloyd George, Baldwin and Atlee, which covers a period between approximately 1715 and 1950. Each man had a fundamental effect on the shape of modern Britain, from the creation of the welfare state to the shape of our democracy, odd though that Winston Churchill does not appear in the first series.

The series is spread across two CDs and Nick Robinson provides informative insights into each man’s career helped along with contributions from contemporary politicians, historians and political biographers.

The series should appeal to lovers of either politic or history, but may well be a jumping off point for those who know little about our political history.

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Charles Packer