The 'Cyprus Emergency’ and India’s nuclear mango deal
The History Hour
BBC
4.4 • 913 Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.
We hear from a Cypriot lawyer, imprisoned by the British for almost two years during the "Cyprus Emergency” of 1955-1959.
Our guest, Professor Rebecca Bryant, explains how this period impacted life in Cyprus in the following years.
Plus, the story of India’s controversial nuclear deal with the USA in 2006 and when thousands of people rallied against a racially motivated killing in Norway.
We also learn about the questionable conviction of four men in Mauritius, who became known as the L’Amicale Four, and about how Tunisian independence helped improve women’s rights 70 years ago.
And finally, the remarkable story of when the unfancied Czech Republic reached the final of Euro 96.
Contributors:
Renos Lyssiotis - former Cypriot lawyer.
Dr Rebecca Bryant – Professor of cultural anthropology at Utrecht University.
Ronen Sen – former Indian ambassador to the United States.
Luciana Parvaneh Zehi – friend of Benjamin Hermansen.
Imran Sumodhee – one of the L’Amicale Four.
Saida El Gueyed – founding member of the Women’s Union in Tunisia.
Patrik Berger – former Czech footballer.
(Photo: British troops searching for EOAK fighters in 1956. Credit: Bert Hardy/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:16.4 | The Martin Lewis podcast is twice weekly, helping you navigate our complex consumer world. I'll walk you through a big money saving topic step by step. Then in question time, you set the agenda and ask whatever's on your mind. Would you rather be locked in an empty shocking centre with a thousand snakes or just one gorilla? Within reason. The Martin Lewis podcast, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:38.4 | We did something that no one else had ever done. |
| 0:41.3 | There was such an excitement and energy about this moment. |
| 0:45.8 | It opened the door for everything that rapidly followed. |
| 0:48.6 | Witness history. |
| 0:49.7 | History as told by the people who were there. |
| 0:52.1 | I was walking in space. |
| 0:54.3 | The first man ever to do so, |
| 0:56.6 | I felt almost insignificant, |
| 0:58.8 | like a tiny ant compared to the immensity of the universe. |
| 1:03.1 | Witness History from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:05.8 | Listen now. |
| 1:06.9 | Search for Witness History, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 1:15.8 | Hello and welcome to The History Hour with Max Pearson, |
| 1:19.4 | this week's BBC World Service witness history stories. |
| 1:22.7 | Coming up, the controversial nuclear deal between the US and India in 2006, sweetened by mangoes. |
| 1:29.8 | Mangoes was a diplomatic calling card, you might say. You know, mangoes were the gift, |
| 1:34.3 | Prime Minister Joala Al Nairu, to Queen Elizabeth on her coronation. Also, Norway's racially |
... |
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