Michael Portillo travels through Europe to understand life during the First and Second World Wars. On his travels, he visits Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Austria and the Czech Republic, learning about the old empires of Europe swept away by revolution and a dozen new nations that embarked optimistically upon independence.

He'll see how technology leapt forward, aeroplanes and motorcars connected with trains in a transport network which spanned the globe. How jazz and cinema entertained the industrial masses, who lived, worked and played under the bright lights of the great metropolises but, across the continent, communists and fascists battled to govern Europeans, whose fragile peace was shortly shattered once more by war.