Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Algerian-French writer and Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus. Shortly after the new year of 1960, a powerful sports car crashed in the French town of Villeblevin in Burgundy, killing two of its occupants. One was the publisher Michel Gallimard; the other was the writer Albert Camus. In Camus’ pocket was an unused train ticket and in the boot of the car his unfinished autobiography The First Man. Camus was 46. Born in Algeria in 1913, Camus became a working class hero and icon of the French Resistance. His friendship with Sartre has been well documented, as has their falling out; and although Camus has been dubbed both an Absurdist and Existentialist philosopher, he denied he was even a philosopher at all, preferring to think of himself as a writer who expressed the realities of human existence. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Camus’ legacy is a rich one, as an author of plays, novels and essays, and as a political thinker who desperately sought a peaceful solution to the War for Independence in his native Algeria. With Peter Dunwoodie, Professor of French Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London; David Walker, Professor of French at the University of Sheffield; Christina Howells, Professor of French at Wadham College, University of Oxford.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Joel Joffe. For many years he was the chairman of Oxfam, before that he set up a hugely successful insurance company and most recently he's been campaigning for terminally ill people to have the right to die. But the career in which he has had the greatest impact is the one he was forced to give up more than 40 years ago - law.

In 1963, Joel Joffe was a young defence solicitor, so dismayed by the apartheid system of his native South Africa that he was on the brink of emigrating. Then he was asked to take over the defence of a group of ANC activists including Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Nelson Mandela.

The trial gripped the world and was all the more extraordinary because, far from aiming to secure his clients' freedom, Joel Joffe was simply fighting for them not to receive the death penalty. He tells Kirsty how, even in his prison clothes, Nelson Mandela was a figure of calm authority, who guided them through the trial.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Under Milk Wood by Richard Burton Book: A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela Luxury: Wind-up radio.

Joining preparations for the Baha'i new year with some of Egypt's 2,000 Baha'is, who are under great political and social pressure as the state no longer recognises their religion.

David Attenborough's documentary series which celebrates our planet in all its eclectic wonder. He reveals the greatest woodlands on earth, from the evergreen forests of the frozen north to the deciduous dry forests of the equator.

The Taiga forest is a silent world of stunted conifers cloaked in snow and ice. The trees form a belt that circles the globe, broken only by ocean, and contains a third of all trees on earth. Here, animals are scarce, with just a few charismatic loners like the wolverine and lynx.

By contrast, the broadleaf forests of North America and Europe bustle with life. The most startling illustration happens just once every 17 years, when the nymphs of the periodical cicada burst from the soil in the biggest insect emergence on the planet.

In California, witness the cameras fly up the tallest trees on earth: giant redwoods over 100 metres high. See General Sherman, a giant sequoia, ten times the size of a blue whale, and the largest living thing on the planet. Close by are bristlecone pines, so old they pre-date the pyramids and were already 2,500 years old when Jesus Christ was born.

The baobab forests of Madagascar are the strangest of all. The bizarre upside down trees store water in their swollen trunks and harbour strange wildlife, such as the tiny mouse lemur, the world's smallest primate.

For almost four years, an Algerian Islamist has been under scrutiny in New Zealand. Ahmed Zaoui was initially placed in solitary confinement and is now under effective house arrest. He arrived in the country seeking asylum, but was immediately detained much to the outrage of many in New Zealand. Now out of jail his freedom has been restricted, but the authorities refuse to say why.

Sue MacGregor goes to Johannesburg to reunite a group of former political prisoners who were incarcerated on Robben Island when Nelson Mandela was there throughout the 1960s and 70s. Robben Island was a world of chains and torture during South Africa's darkest apartheid years. But it also became a place where many of the country's future leaders learnt the skills which would later bring them to power. We hear the extraordinary stories of five former prisoners.

Documentary series. Simon Reeve journeys 25,000 miles, trekking through rainforests, climbing active volcanoes and travelling through war zones on his way around the equator. He catches malaria in Gabon and struggles on through the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, goes rafting on the source of the Nile and witnesses a bullfight in Kenya. His journey ends in the desert on the Somalian border where thousands of refugees have escaped the fighting in their homeland.

South African women talk about attitudes toward anorexia and weight. Despite living on a continent where staying healthy and getting enough to eat is a major concern, how being extremely slim is still a major concern among young women.

Exploration into what it is like to live in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. The programme features interviews with anonymous people living in Zimbabwe. Once Africa's bread basket the country now relies heavily on foreign aid and has runaway inflation which the government refuses to publish. At the time of broadcast, the BBC was banned from reporting in Zimbabwe. Presented by Fergal Keane.

How Nigeria is becoming a regional force to be reckoned with. Nigeria is credited with helping bring peace to Liberia. The West African forces led by Nigeria ended up being sucked into a war with Charles Taylor's forces. The programme looks at what Nigeria's economic and political strength could mean for the region in the future.

In search of Agengi, the god of the rainforests of southern Cameroon. In a continent where Christianity and Islam have penetrated so far, is it still possible to find an undulterated form of African religion?

National Voodoo Day in the village of Grand Popo in Benin, the birthplace of Voodoo.

David Attenborough recounts his very personal experiences with the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. Ever since they were discovered over a century ago, these remarkable creatures have been threatened by loss of habitat, poaching, disease and political instability. But despite all odds their numbers have increased. David tells the extraordinary tale of how conservationists like Dian Fossey have battled to save the mountain gorilla from the brink of extinction.

A report from the Kalahari desert with historian, Angela McIntyre and citizens of Pomfret. The South African government is hoping to re-settle those who live in the former military town, which is now regarded as the mercenary town of Africa. However many believe the town is not a 'national embarrassment' and should be saved.

A report on the developing security and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. A report from the border between Sudan and Chad where refugees have been fleeing conflict and the apparent pro-government Islamic militia the Janjaweed. Two thirds of refugees are from Sudan, but those in Chad are now being targeted in Janjaweed-led raids.

A look at Uganda's first multi-party elections. Will the elections be fair or will they threaten stability? Dr Kizza Besigye is the opposition candidate against President Yoweri Museveni.

A report on trade in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Who are the winners and losers of the country's free trade revolution? After ending up deep in debt the nation was forced by the World Bank to liberalise its economy and open up its local markets.

We meet Victor Ochen a Ugandan radio DJ in Kampala whose Christian Pastor brother was abducted by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army two years ago. We hear Victor's story and how his Christian faith has sustained him.

The plight of African Migrants in the Spanish enclave of Melilla and Ceuta in Morocco. The autonomous Spanish cities on the northern tip of Africa are seen as a route into Europe. Last month eleven migrants were killed by Moroccan Police as they stormed the Melilla fence.