Genius of the Modern World

Born into affluence, Marx became an angry, idealistic radical, on the run for his political agitating and incendiary writing. In Paris, he formulated his explosive analysis of capitalism and its corrosive effects. In London, his obsession dragged his family into poverty and tragedy. How did this man, whose funeral was attended by 11 people, generate one of history’s most influential ideologies?

Bettany searches to clarify the beliefs of a man whose work is possibly the most devastatingly manipulated and misinterpreted in philosophical history. The 19th century philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche was one of the most brilliant and dangerous minds of the century.

Freud's influence is all around us. In our vocabulary - repression, penis envy, the Freudian slip - and in the freedom to talk openly about our deepest feelings and insecurities. But what do you learn when you take a Freudian approach to Freud himself? Historian Bettany Hughes travels to Vienna to discover how his childhood experiences led to the formation of the father of psychoanalysis.