Dan Cruickshank

Dan Cruickshank looks at the extravagant 19th-century castles and palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, believing them to be the work of an architectural genius ahead of his time.

The 17th century saw London plunge into a series of devastating disasters. The Civil War, a murderous plague, and the destruction of the great fire should have all but destroyed the small medieval city, but somehow it not only survived - it thrived.