Dan Cruickshank – Palmyra and Coventry – Studies in Death and Resurrection

Dan Cruickshank is a regular presenter on the BBC, best known for his popular series Adventures in Architecture, Britain’s Best Buildings, Around the World in 80 Treasures and for his appearances in The House Detectives and What the Industrial Revolution Did For Us. By looking at buildings, and telling the human story behind their creation, the talk offers a very personal history of architecture and a portrait of the man-made world that defines civilization.

Dan Cruickshank recently embarked upon a perilous journey to Syria, documented in his BBC Four programme The Road To Palmyra, to discover what had happened to the ancient city of Palmyra during three years of Islamic State control. His aim was to not only assess the destruction but to reveal the human suffering of those who died protecting the ancient city and its history.