Noise - A Human History
Noise - A Human History is a 30-part series on BBC Radio 4 that explores how our interactions with sound have shaped us over 100,000 years.
Recorded on location around the world and featuring treasures from the British Library's Sound Archive, it takes us from prehistory to the present, encompassing the shamanistic music of our cave-dwelling ancestors, the babel of ancient Rome, the massacre of noisy cats in pre-revolutionary Paris, the nerve-destroying din of trench warfare, right through to the cacophony of the modern metropolis.
Written and presented by Professor David Hendy from the University of Sussex and produced by Matt Thompson. A Rockethouse Production for BBC Radio 4.
Visit Noise: A Human History (BBC) website to find out more
Noise - A Human History and the British Library
Noise was made in collaboration with the sound curators at the British Library. The British Library has a collection of 3.5 million sound recordings which come from all over the world and cover music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds. A number of sounds from the British Library's collections have been included in the Noise series.
During the course of the project, our curators will be discussing the series and highlighting recordings from our collections, on the BBC's Radio 4 blog and the Library's Sounds blog. Feel free to post comments and let us know your thoughts.
Over 50,000 sounds from the Library’s collections can be explored online now.
Listen to sounds from the Library's collection now
NOISE: A Human History of Sound and Listening by David Hendy is published by Profile Books. See the Profile Books website for more information
