In Search of the Trojan War - Michael Wood Interview

In this retrospective BBC interview, renowned historian and broadcaster Michael Wood reflects on the enduring legacy of his landmark documentary series, In Search of the Trojan War, and discusses how subsequent archaeological discoveries have fundamentally validated its core hypotheses [0:1.322, 0:1.323]. Wood details the complex historical and logistical journey of filming across a deeply divided 1980s Europe, sharing vivid memories of traveling through Checkpoint Charlie to study Hittite cuneiform tablets in East Berlin and tracking down surviving oral epic poets near Turkey's Armenian border [0:1.324, 0:1.337, 0:1.350, 0:1.361, 0:1.362]. He evaluates the controversial legacy of Heinrich Schliemann, contextualizes Homer's Iliad as an unflinching meditation on the tragic realities of human conflict, and celebrates recent excavations under Manfred Korfmann that revealed Troy's vast lower town and strategic diplomatic links to the Mycenaean Greek world [0:1.370, 0:1.418, 0:1.427, 0:1.477, 0:1.487].#InSearchOfTheTrojanWar #MichaelWood #BBCInterview #TroyExcavations #HomerIliad #HeinrichSchliemann #AncientHistory #BronzeAgeHistory #Archaeology #HittiteEmpire