Chalke Talk: Recent Episodes
Goalhanger Films
Chalke Talk the podcast from the Chalke Valley History Festival
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1918: One Hundred Days to Victory
The stunning series of victories that brought the First World War to a close are regarded as some of the most important battles the British have ever fought. Yet today they are largely forgotten. Dan Snow tells the story of The Hundred Days Offensive and how a hastily assembled army of civilians was forged into the finest force in British history that decisively defeated Germany.
Napoleon: The Man Behind the Myth
‘What a novel my life has been!’ exclaimed Napoleon – but he wrote much of it himself. A masterful and shameless manipulator of myths, he created a narrative that still inspires passionate and conflicting responses. Was he a god-like genius, Romantic avatar, megalomaniac monster or just a nasty little dictator? Adam Zamoyski argues that he was none of these and presents a more human, more understandable and far more interesting Napoleon.
A Personal History of Musicals: How to Succeed, By Mistake, in the World of Musical Theatre
Multi-award-winning lyricist Sir Tim Rice is responsible for some of the most successful musicals of all time both on stage and on screen. In this talk, he discusses his own journey from his partnership with Andrew Lloyd-Webber in the 1960s through to collaborating with Elton John, winning Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys, Ivor Novellos and having his own place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class
This is political history that rivals the very best thrillers: a behind the scenes account of what really happened before, during and immediately after the Brexit referendum. Tim Shipman had unrivalled access to many of the key players and, in this discussion with Guy Walters, offers a ringside view of the decision that will change the UK forever.
Bread for All: The Origins of the Welfare State
From the Victorian workhouse to the National Insurance and National Health Service Acts that came into effect in 1948, Chris Renwick exploreS the welfare state’s evolution, one of the greatest transformations in British intellectual, social and political life. He challenges common assumptions about what the welfare state was originally for and in doing so aska what the idea continues to mean for us today.
Constant Heart: The War Diaries of Maud Russell 1939-1945
Mottisfont Abbey was home to Maud Russell, an active figure in British political and artistic life. Maud’s granddaughter, Emily Russell, has edited her private diaries and tells tales of Maud’s encounters with celebrated artists and writers such as Matisse, Rex Whistler and Ian Fleming, her wartime life on a country estate, and her struggle to help her Jewish relations flee Nazi Germany.
How Ideas Change: The Evolution of Everything
Best-selling author Matt Ridley’s fascinating argument for evolution definitively dispels a dangerous myth: that we can command and control our world. Taught that the world is shaped by those in charge, his perspective revolutionises the way we think. Drawing from science, economics, history and philosophy, he proves that it is actually ‘bottom-up’ trends which shape the world.
How to Remain Sane in the Age of Populism
In recent years, a wave of populism has swept the world, fuelled by fear, anger and resentment. Internationally award-winning author and TED Global speaker Elif Shafak asks how we remain sane in the age of populism. Should we retreat into tribes of our own; should we create new tribes, or should we, and can we, find a way beyond tribalism?
Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation
James Stourton, former Chairman of Sotheby’s UK, and official biographer of the great British art historian Kenneth Clark, draws on previously unseen archives to reveal the astonishing life of this formidable intellect who wielded enormous influence over all aspects of the arts despite deep emotional and intellectual contradictions and a very complicated private life.
Kings of the Yukon: The History of the Salmon Run
The Yukon river is over 2,000 miles long, flowing northwest from Canada through Alaska to the Bering Sea. Every summer, hundreds of thousands of King salmon migrate the longest salmon run in the world. Adam Weymouth traces the profound interconnectedness of the local people and the fish to offer a powerful glimpse into the erosion of indigenous culture, and into our ever-complicated relationship with the natural world.
Lancaster Bomber Pilot
Rusty Waughman DFC is a former Lancaster pilot flying with RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War. He has incredible recall, and talks of those times with great frankness, detail and consideration for all he and his crew went through.
Les Parisiennes 1939-49
How did the women of Paris live, love and die in the 1940s? Why did some Parisians collaborate while others resisted? From saving other people’s children, to embracing Nazi philosophy to retreating to the Ritz with a lover, acclaimed writer, Anne Sebba, examines the many different choices made by the Parisiennes in order to survive the war.
Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe's Lost Country
In 843 AD the territory of Emperor Charlemagne was divided between his three surviving grandsons. One inherited the area now known as France, another Germany and the third received the piece in between: Lotharingia, a huge swath of land that stretched from the mouth of the Rhine to the Alps. Simon Winder explains how the dynamic between these three great zones has dictated much of our subsequent fate.
Masters of the Seas: Naval Power and the First World War
So much of our understanding of the First World War focuses on the conflict on land and yet the nation who controlled the seas also controlled the flow of resources, so critical in such a long and attritional war. In this lecture, one of our most eminent historians Professor Sir Hew Strachan shows why naval power was so critical to the outcome.
No Cunning Plan
Tony Robinson has spent much of his professional life immersed in the past, whether as Blackadder’s servant through the centuries or with Maid Marion and her Merry Men, or as the presenter of the pioneering archaeology show, Time Team. In this event, he discusses with Tom Holland his history highs, from Baldrick’s cunning plans to some of the most important finds unearthed in over twenty years of archaeological digs.
Salisbury Cathedral: A Medieval Masterpiece
Over 800 years ago, work started on the new Salisbury Cathedral. Tim Tatton-Brown describes how one of Britain’s greatest cathedrals was built, from digging the foundations in 1219 to the completion of Britain’s tallest spire. Drawing on history, geology and his expertise in architecture, he will show the wider context of the building, situating its development against the background of English politics of successive ages.
The Anglo-Saxon Conquest of England, Wessex and the Chalke Valley
We speak English today; not Celtic, Latin, nor Norman French. England is England because of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. Yet we know very little about how it happened. This talk describes astonishing new evidence, hidden in plain sight, spread across the whole length and breadth of England. Some of it in the Chalke Valley near Salisbury.
The Collector Earls of Pembroke: Wilton's History Told Through its Art Collection
Every picture tells a story and nowhere more so than in a private collection, still hanging in the house for which it was bought. The collection at Wilton is one of the oldest in Britain, dating back to the seventeenth century, when the Earl of Pembroke was among Van Dyck’s earliest English patrons. Art historian and broadcaster Helen Rosslyn looks at works by artists as diverse as Raphael, Rembrandt and Reynolds and explores how they came to be at Wilton.
The Final Taboo: A History of Grief
Death is the last taboo in our society, and grief is still profoundly misunderstood. In conversation with Dan Snow, Julia Samuel, a grief psychologist and Founder of Child Bereavement UK, explores past attitudes to grief and the historical context of death and dying in this country, from the Victorians to the present day, with particular emphasis on the consequences of the two World Wars.
The Imperial Tea Party: Family, Politics and Betrayal
Before King George infamously denied his Romanov cousins asylum when the Bolsheviks were closing in, there were three extraordinary encounters between the British and Russian royal families. Although well intentioned and generally hailed as successes, Frances Welch shows that these meetings, beset by misunderstandings and misfortunes, were to have far-reaching consequences for twentieth century Europe and beyond.
The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Mind, Heart and Soul
In the years since he first had the idea of prescribing short, powerful poems for all manner of spiritual ailments, William Sieghart, founder of National Poetry Day, has taken his Poetry Pharmacy around the length and breadth of Britain. Here he speaks about the most essential poems in his dispensary: those which have repeatedly shown themselves to work.
The Queen
Renowned biographer A. N. Wilson celebrates the life of the Queen in this vibrant examination of Britain’s most iconic figure. He paints a vivid portrait of “Lilibet” the woman, and of her unfaltering reign during the tumultuous twentieth century, while asking candidly whether Britain can remain a constitutional monarchy after her reign ends.
The Write Fantastic: Terry Pratchett
Sir Terry Pratchett is one of the most popular authors to have ever lived. His Discworld novels have sold tens of millions all over the world. In this talk his right-hand man and collaborator, Rob Wilkins, discusses his life, his work, his inspiration and his profound love of the Chalke Valley.
Victoria: Queen, Matriarch, Empress
Queen Victoria inherited the throne aged 18 and, in an unprecedented reign of 63 years, she oversaw intense industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change within the United Kingdom, and great imperial expansion outside it. In the bicentenary of her birth, Professor Jane Ridley overturns the established picture of the dour old lady to create a fresh and engaging portrait of this redoubtable monarch.
Viking Britain: An Exploration
To many, the word ‘Viking’ brings to mind scenes of violence and pillage, of marauders from beyond the sea rampaging around the British coastline in the last gloomy centuries before the Norman Conquest. Thomas Williams, however, offers a vital evocation of a forgotten world, its echoes in later history and its implications for the present, revealing how much Britain today owes to its Viking past.
Why the Anglo-Saxons Matter
Acclaimed historian and broadcaster Michael Wood tells fascinating tales from our early history: Augustine of Canterbury and the coming of Christianity, Theodore of Tarsus, the golden age of Northumbria, the Lady of the Mercians, Alfred, Athelstan, and the Norman Conquest; stories of men and women, kings and peasants, of the beginning of English literature and art, and the origins of England.
Lawrence of Arabia
T.E. Lawrence is famous for Seven Pillars of Wisdom, his personal account of the Arab revolt during World War I. What is less known is that he burnt the first, more intimate, version of his memoire. Highly acclaimed author Anthony Sattin uncovers the story of Lawrence’s pre-war adventures and the personal reasons that led to his prominent role in the Middle East.
The Victorians: Twelve Titans Who Forged Britain
Many associate the Victorian era with austere social attitudes and filthy factories. Jacob Rees-Mogg discusses a very different picture of the age, one of bright ambition, bold self- belief and determined industriousness. Whether through Peel’s commitment to building free trade, Palmerston’s deft diplomacy in international affairs, or Brunel’s incredible engineering feats, the Victorians transformed the nation and established Britain as a preeminent global force.
Into the Cannon's Mouth: The Archaeology of Infantry Charges at Culloden and Isandlwana
In this talk, the brilliant conflict archaeologist Professor Tony Pollard adopts a forensic approach to dissect the Jacobite charge at Culloden (1746) and that by the Zulus at Isandlwana (1879). Using the results of archaeological investigations the two are compared and contrasted and the factors that influenced Jacobite defeat and Zulu victory examined.
The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin
Few of history’s heroes can rival Saladin in his enduring attraction. In the Muslim world he is revered for reclaiming Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187. In the West he is famed for his chivalric virtue, despite fighting off the armies of the Third Crusade. Professor Jonathan Phillips brings alive this extraordinary man’s legacy, offering a unique prism through which to view the complex world of holy war and the centuries- long struggle for Jerusalem.
First Confession
Lord Patten, one of the most distinguished Tory ‘Wets’ of the 1980s and 1990s, talks about his time in office in the Conservative Party, as the last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner, Chairman of the BBC and Chancellor of Oxford University. From Northern Ireland to Asia, he shows us unexpected sides of many of the great figures of the day.
George Osborne: Politics and History
The former Chancellor looks at politics historically and divulges the historical antecedents which inspired him and his close friend David Cameron during their six years in government together. In conversation with Tim Bouverie, this is a rare insight into politics at the very highest level from the man Andrew Marr once called the smartest politician he had ever met.
Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe and the Brotherhood that Helped Turn the Tide of War
In the early days of World War II, London became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of occupied Europe. In their struggles against the mightiest military force in history, Britain become known as “Last Hope Island’. Acclaimed historian Lynne Olson describes how the British and their European guests joined forces to restore order to a broken continent.
Hidden Histories: A Spotter's Guide to the British Landscape
From pathways, bridges and old houses, to hedges, churches, graveyards and field patterns left behind by medieval ploughmen, Mary-Ann Ochota helps decipher the story of our environment through the features we see around us and arms the amateur explorer with the crucial information needed to ‘read’ the landscape and spot the human activities that have shaped our green and pleasant land.
Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsession Which Forged Modern Europe
The late lamented John Julius Norwich weaves a colourful story of four great princes who were born within a single decade. Henry VIII, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and Suleiman the Magnificent were sometimes friends, but more often enemies. From the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Francis and Henry’s extravagant pageant, to Suleiman’s celebratory pyramid of 2000 human heads, this is history at its most vivid.
The Women Who Flew for Hitler: The True Story of Hitler's Valkyries
Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented and courageous women who fought convention to make their names in the male dominated world of flight and both were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gives an exciting – and as yet largely unknown - account of Nazi Germany’s most highly decorated women test pilots.
The Map of Knowledge: How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found
Violet Moller traces the journey taken by the ideas of three of the greatest scientists of antiquity – Euclid, Galen and Ptolemy – through seven cities and over a thousand years. In tracing these fragile strands of knowledge, Moller reveals the web of connections between the Islamic world and Christendom, connections that would both preserve and transform astronomy, mathematics and medicine from the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That
Robert Graves as war poet, and the poems he suppressed in an effort to put the war behind him, have been largely neglected – until now. Jean Moorcroft Wilson traces not only Graves’s compelling life, but also the development of his poetry during the First World War, his thinking about the conflict and his talents as a master prose writer and author of the revealing memoir Good-bye to All That.
Don McCullin: Irreconcilable Truths
Legendary photographer Don McCullin first met Max Hastings in Cambodia in 1970. Here they discuss Sir Don’s long career from his time as a war photographer to his recent work in Syria, as well as some of the themes with which they are both familiar: fear, suffering and the terrible cost of war.
A Hero for High Times: A Guide to the Beats, Hippies, Freaks, Punks, Ravers, New-Age Travellers and Dog-on-a-rope Brew Crew Crusties of the British Isles 1956-1994
A free spirit who embraced the post-war counter-culture, Ian Marchant takes us on a splendid journey through some of his personal highs from the age of the Beats to the protests of Swampy.
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
With access to newly released MI5 files, Ben Macintyre unlocks perhaps the last great secret of the Cold War. A story of intimate duplicity, loyalty, trust and treachery about the most notorious British defector and mole in history, Kim Philby is revealed as agent, double agent, traitor and enigma, and betrayer of secret Allied operations to the Russians.
The Fear and the Freedom: How the Second World War Changed Us
Keith Lowe has undertaken a pioneering and vitally important exploration of the aftermath of the war, how it affected different peoples and countries, and the unprecedented geopolitical, social, psychological and economic imprint it caused. In this talk he discusses his findings and explains why the war is still both important and highly relevant to this day.
The Aviation Heroes of the First World War
The pioneering airmen of the First World War took incredible risks to perform their vital contribution to the war effort. Joshua Levine, official historian of the film Dunkirk, tells the story of the first heroes of the air, conveying the perils of early flight, the thrills of being airborne, and the horrors of war in the air at a time when pilots carried little defensive armament and no parachutes.
Horticultural Heaven: The Lives of Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather and Penelope Fitzgerald Through Their Gardens
Acclaimed writer, reviewer, broadcaster, and prize-winning biographer Professor Dame Hermione Lee, former President of Wolfson College, Oxford, talks about the gardens – real and imaginary – of the writers whose lives she has written including Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Penelope Fitzgerald, and Willa Cather.
Rome: A History in Seven Sackings
No city on earth has preserved its past as has Rome, despite being afflicted by earthquakes, floods, fires, plagues and repeated ravages by roving armies. From the Gauls to the Nazis, Matthew Kneale vividly recounts the most important of these attacks, while drawing an intense and vibrant portrait of the city and its inhabitants, both before and after being attacked.
The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War
The Second World War was not fought by Britain alone. India produced the largest volunteer army in world history: over 2 million men. Yasmin Khan presents the overlooked history of India at war, and will show how mobilisation for the war unleashed seismic processes of economic, cultural and social change – decisively shaping the international war effort, the unravelling of the empire and India’s own political trajectory.
Clash of Empires: Rome v Greece
Rome. Greece. Two of the greatest civilisations ever to exist, yet the story of how the former came to conquer the latter just a few years after a brutal war with Carthage is little known today. The brilliant BenKane brings to life the characters, the political intrigue, the alliances made and broken, as well as the heroic battles. This clash of powers had it all.
Epic Continent: Adventures in the Great Stories of Europe
Award-winning travel writer Nicholas Jubber journeyed across Europe exploring it’s epic poems, from the Odyssey to Beowulf, the Song of Roland to the Nibelungenlied. In these tales soaked in blood and fire, Nicholas Jubber reveals how fantasy realms of gods and emperors, dragons and water-maidens, knights and princesses shaped our world: their deep impact on European identity, and their resonance in our turbulent times.
The Black Prince
In 1346, at the age of 16, he helped defeat the French at Crécy; ten years later he captured the King of France at Poitiers. Michael Jones illuminates the dramatic story of ‘the Black Prince’, the eldest son and heir of Edward III of England. Using the Prince’s own letters, he paints a memorable portrait of warfare and society in the tumultuous fourteenth century.
Empires in the Sun: The Struggle for the Mastery of Africa
In this talk about the men and ideas that radically changed the course of world history, Lawrence James investigates and analyses how, within a hundred years, Europeans persuaded and coerced Africa into becoming a subordinate part of the modern world. The continent proved to be a magnet for the high-minded, the philanthropic, the unscrupulous and the insane.
Robert Kennedy: Working for Bobby
In 1968, a year that saw America divided by the Vietnam War and shocked by the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Steve Isenberg, a 27-year-old political novice, joined the presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He recounts his adventures on the campaign trail and reveals the highs and lows of a campaign that was innocent and idealistic, yet full of serious purpose and determination, but that was ultimately to end in tragedy.
The Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were fought over thirty bitter years from 1455 to 1485, as rival dynasties from the Houses of York and Lancaster repeatedly clashed in a desperate power struggle for the throne of England. Best-selling author Conn Iggulden uses this period of human drama as the backdrop to his novels and here, discusses his research and describes some of the battles.
Agent Jack: MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter
In June 1940 Britain was Europe’s final bastion of freedom - and Hitler’s next target. But not everyone feared a Nazi invasion: in factories, offices and suburban homes people were determined to hasten it. Robert Hutton exposes the astonishing story of the MI5 agent at the heart of Operation Fifth Column, the covert wartime operation to flush out Nazi sympathisers on British soil.
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Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli was the most gifted parliamentarian of the nineteenth century. He twice rose to become Prime Minister, dazzling many with his famous epigrams along the way. Politician Douglas Hurd and political speechwriter Edward Young strip away the myths which surround his career, explore the paradoxes at the centre of his “two lives” and bring alive the true genius of Disraeli.
Athelstan
Athelstan is arguably England’s greatest monarch and here best-selling and award- winning author Tom Holland tells the truly amazing story of how Athelstan built on the foundations of his grandfather and mother to become the first King of a united England.
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The Iliad
Tom Holland, classicist, historian and master storyteller, returns to the Ancient World with his unique, captivating and witty take on Homer’s tale of the Trojan War. A retelling of this most enduring of stories, this is for young and old, and all ages in between.
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Britain's Greatest Battle: Imphal and Kohima
This epic battle was voted Britain’s Greatest Battle in a poll by the National Army Museum, yet few know or understand why this brutal but decisive engagement was so significant. As James Holland reveals, it deserves greater recognition not just for the extraordinary leadership of General Bill Slim but also for epic heroism and the dogged determination of all those who fought there.
Gentlemen Behaving Badly: Eighteenth Century Rakes and Rascals
When a pious Swiss traveller visited London in the 1720s, he complained that ‘debauch runs riot with an unblushing countenance’. But just how badly behaved was the average English gentleman? Drawing on diaries, letters and gallows confessions, award-winning author Antonia Hodgson explores the lives of several fascinating rogues - from the amiable to the downright deadly.
The Wipers Times
The Wipers Times was a newspaper for the troops that was written, edited and printed under extraordinary circumstances by a small group of British soldiers during the First World War. Wry, irreverent and topical, it was, in many ways, a precursor to Private Eye, of which Ian has been editor for many years. Here he discusses this brilliant life-enhancing wartime publication and the men who created it.
How Ruskin Shapes Our World
John Ruskin was the best-known and most controversial intellectual of the Victorian Age. He was an art critic, a social activist, an early environmentalist; he was also a painter, writer, and a determined tastemaker in the fields of architecture and design. In the bicentenary of his birth, Andrew Hill shows how Ruskin’s radical ideas are still relevant to today.
Spies and Secret Agents: In Fiction and Real Life
Charlie Higson is the best-selling author of the Young Bond series of novels, and Ben Macintyre the author of a number of best-selling books about real spies of World War II and the Cold War. Here they come together with spy novelist Charlie Cumming to discuss secret agents, real and imaginary, in a highly entertaining feast of furtiveness for all the family.
The Fall of Constantinople: The Greatest Siege in History
In 1453 the hordes of Islam are at the walls of Constantinople. The fate of all Europe hangs on a heroic garrison who’d answered the call of the last Roman Emperor. Would their courage be enough? James Heneage tells the story of the most thrilling siege in history and explains why catastrophe in 1453 turned into eventual triumph for the West.
Troy Story
Star of BBC Radio 4, Natalie Haynes brings her unique combination of ancient history and stand-up comedy to the story of the Trojan War. The women whose lives the war affected largely remained in the shadows, from the Amazon warrior, Penthesilea, to the priestess who foresaw the war, Cassandra. These women will be returned to their rightful place: the centre of the story.
The Shortest History of Germany
What is it about Germany? Lying at the heart of Europe, the story of the German peoples is an epic one of empires, wars and an extraordinarily rich culture. Internationally best-selling writer James Hawes gives a thrilling ride through German history from Julius Caesar to Angela Merkel and answers the eternal question: are the Germans really us,or them?
Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War, 1914
Journalist, editor and acclaimed author Sir Max Hastings tells the story of how Europe went to war in 1914 precipitating the first of the twentieth century’s great tragedies. He challenges the view of some modern historians that British participation was unnecessary and concludes with the Christmas truces when the struggle had lapsed into the stalemate which was to last the next four years.
Along the Line: A Life in Archaeology
Phil Harding is one of Britain’s best-loved and known archaeologists – a stalwart of the hugely successful Time Team and a man with a long and celebrated career. Here he reviews his own archaeological path and place it within developments as archaeology has become an accepted profession in its own right.
Dunkirk Veteran
The remarkable 101-year-old John Hamilton discusses his extraordinarily varied military career with Major General Andrew Cumming. Over the course of 25 years, he was evacuated from Dunkirk, worked as an instructor at the Recce Corps Training Centre in Catterick, took the German surrender in Norway, commanded the A Squadron of the King’s Dragoon Guards in Libya and served with the Arab Legion in Jordan as a major.
Full Steam Ahead: How the Railways Made Britain
After their hugely popular BBC TV series, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn talk about Britain’s railways from their birth to their heyday and beyond, showing how steam locomotives shaped the emergence of the country as a world power and how the railways changed and affected the lives of us all.
Man of Iron: Thomas Telford and the Building of Britain
Thomas Telford was a shepherd boy who changed the world with his revolutionary engineering and whose genius we still benefit from today. Julian Glover’s original portrait of the great engineer covers decades of gloriously obsessive, prodigiously productive energy, building churches, canals, bridges and the backbone of our national road network.
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
Distinguished historian David Gilmour traces the lives of hitherto unknown British men and women in India. They include soldiers, officials, businessmen, doctors and missionaries, planters and engineers, together with children, wives and sisters. He describes their work and their extraordinarily varied interactions with the native populations, painting a highly original portrait of three centuries of British-Indian history.
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America Trumped: How Did This Happen?
Who better than the charismatic broadcaster Matt Frei to explain the extraordinary phenomenon which was the then President of the United States of America? The award-winning journalist was Washington correspondent for the BBC and Channel 4 News for many years and recently made the documentary ‘Meet the Trumps: From Immigrant to President.’ So how did Donald Trump become leader of the free world?
Copenhagen and After
Michael Frayn is one of our most successful and revered playwrights and Copenhagen one of his highly acclaimed and award-winning plays. In this very special talk he discusses the play’s subject: the visit of German atomic scientist Werner Heisenberg to Copenhagen in 1941 to visit fellow scientists Margrethe and Niels Bohr and their subsequent discussions about the rationale of creating an atomic bomb.
The Easter Rising 1916: Remembering the Irish Revolution
The desire for self-transformation, to define themselves apart from their parents and a determination to reconstruct the world, united the young and disparate of Ireland to form the revolutionary generation. By sifting through letters, journals and photographs, eminent historian Professor Roy Foster FBA examines the vivid public and private lives of the disparate group that were the Easter 1916 rebels.
Trident Debate: Britain's Nuclear Deterrent Should Be Consigned to History
This is a fierce debate about whether or not Britain should retain her nuclear deterrent. Speaking for the motion are David Edgerton, Professor of Modern British History at King’s College London, and Kate Hudson, General Secretary of CND. Speaking against are Lord Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London and Philip Dunne MP, Minister of State for Defence Procurement at the time.
The Islamic Enlightenment: The Modern Struggle Between Faith and Reason
The Muslim world has often been accused of failing to modernise, reform and adapt. But, from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day, Islamic society in its Middle Eastern heartlands has in fact been transformed by modern ideals and practices. Acclaimed author Christopher de Bellaigue covers 200 turbulent years of Middle Eastern history to tell the forgotten story of the Islamic Enlightenment.
Boots on the Ground: Britain and Her Army Since 1945
In May 1945, the German High Command surrendered to the Allies on Lüneberg Heath. Seventy years later, the British Army finally left their garrisons next to the Heath. General the Lord Dannatt, former Chief of General Staff, follows the compelling story of the British Army since then, tracing Britain’s transformation from a leading military power to its significantly reduced place on today’s world stage.
Socrates in Love: The Making of a Philosopher
Socrates was the philosopher who gave birth to the European tradition of philosophical thought. Yet his trial and death are better known than his life story. Professor Armand D’Angour explores Socrates’ early years revealing what - and who - inspired him to become a philosopher. What emerges is the figure of Socrates as a heroic warrior, an athletic wrestler and passionate lover, and an explosive discovery that places a woman at the origins of Western philosophy.
Was Hitler a Popular Dictator?
In this talk for junior schools, Chris Culpin shows how Hitler disdained democracy and thereby defeated his political opponents leaving “One people, one nation, one leader”. Was he popular? He was certainly successful as there was no opposition, nor opposition newspapers. This was partly through fear but also as a result of brilliant propaganda with the extensive distribution of radios, cheap holidays, and the promise of cars for ordinary people.
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Columba, Resistance & the Struggle to Liberate Occupied Europe
Between 1941 and 1944, sixteen thousand pigeons were dropped as part of ‘Columba’ – a secret British operation to bring back intelligence from those living under Nazi occupation. Gordon Corera, Security Correspondent for BBC news, tells a dramatic and tragic tale of espionage, starring not just pigeons but the networks of ordinary people who were prepared to take huge risks to answer a call for help.
The Big Bad Glossies
With a career that has spanned 30 years at the most senior levels of Condé Nast International, no one is better placed to give an insider view of the world of the glossy magazine than Nicholas Coleridge, at the time, Chairman of Condé Nast Britain. In this talk, he combines anecdote and scholarship to review The Glossy Years - the power, pomp and peccadillos of the key British magazines.
Marjorie Clark with the SOE in Italy
Tim Clark and Nick Cook, co-authors of Monopoli Blues, talk to Tim’s mother, former SOE/FANY wireless operator, Marjorie Clark, about her wartime experiences and those of her husband Bob, whom she met when they served with the SOE in Italy. Part tale of derring-do, part wartime romance, it is also the story of Tim’s journey to uncover his father’s ill-fated ‘Clarion’ mission behind enemy lines in 1944.
Empress Dowager Cixi
Best-selling author of Wild Swans, Jung Chang gives a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of the most important woman in Chinese history. One of the Emperor’s concubines, she launched a palace coup to become the Empress Dowager Cixi, the absolute ruler of a third of the world’s population who overcame huge obstacles to bring a medieval empire into the modern age.
Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity
In the popular imagination Elizabeth I is the symbol of monarchical power, the Virgin Queen who ruled over a Golden Age. But the image is as much armour against reality as it is a reflection of the truth. Dr Helen Castor shows England’s iconic queen in a revealing new light, shaped by profound insecurity that was a matter of both practical politics and personal psychology.
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1944 at Highclere Castle
In 1944 Highclere Castle was a home for child evacuees; General Patton arrived for lunch in June; whilst two P-38 planes crashed just above the Castle whilst practising for D-Day. The Land Girls and retired estate workers were on the farm and in the kitchen gardens - Dig for Victory was part of the survival plan. Fiona Carnarvon paints a fascinating portrait of an estate at war.
Lawrence of Burma: Dadland
Winner of the 2016 Costa Biography prize, Keggie Carew, recounts how, as her ageing father descended into dementia, she undertook a quest to learn about his past. In World War II Tom Carew was parachuted behind the lines into France, then Burma where he fought with Burmese guerrillas helping not only to defeat Japan but win their independence. In peace time domestic life was more challenging!
D-Day
The Allied invasion of Europe involved years of painstaking preparation and mind-boggling logistics, including orchestrating the largest flotilla of ships ever assembled. In addition to covering the Allies’ build-up to the invasion, Peter Caddick-Adams examines the German preparations: the formidable Atlantikwall and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's plans to make Europe impregnable. This talk reveals precisely what lay in wait for the Allies.
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A History of Sporting Genius
Why are some touched with sporting greatness? What is it that lifts mortal men to achieve sporting pinnacles? And why is it that so many sporting greats are also touched with self-destruction? In this discussion, we were thrilled to bring together three experts and a passionate observer to delve deep into the lives and brilliance of some of our best-loved sporting geniuses.
This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World
Professor Jerry Brotton turns his expert eye to Elizabeth I’s little-known relationship with the Islamic world, following her excommunication by the Pope in 1570. He reveals that England’s relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive than has ever been appreciated and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape of Elizabethan England
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The Peasants' Revolt
In 1381, England erupted in a violent popular uprising. The Peasants’ Revolt was the biggest armed rebellion against Church and State in English history and for a short time, it looked as if all would be swept before them. Broadcaster and author, Lord Bragg vividly portrays this epic struggle between the powerful and the apparently powerless.
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Henry VIII and the Men who Made Him
Henry VIII is well known for his tumultuous relationships with women, but his relationships with the men who surrounded him reveal much about his beliefs, behaviour and character. Tracy Borman provides a new perspective by analysing Henry through the men in his life. His cruelty and ruthlessness are infamous, but his fierce loyalty towards those he trusted indicates that he was never the one-dimensional monster of popular belief.
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Maps of War: Mapping Conflict Through the Centuries
In this talk, Professor Jeremy Black explains how the development of mapping from the Renaissance onwards provides us with an invaluable guide to the history of warfare. From the impact of printing through to the two World Wars and beyond, this is a fascinating and revealing talk from one of our very finest historians.
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Airforce Blue: The RAF in World War Two - Spearhead of Victory
Patrick Bishop, an outstanding historian of the wartime RAF, examines the high point of the RAF’s existence – the Second World War – when the air force saved the nation from defeat and then led the advance to victory. From the choppy seas of the Atlantic to the sands of the Western Desert to the jungles of Burma, he portrays the spirit of the RAF during its finest hours.
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The Fighter Pilots
We rightly venerate those who fought in the Battle of Britain but what of those other fighter pilots who fought in World War II? Keith Quilter was a naval carrier pilot flying Corsairs in the Pacific, while Colin Bell flew Mosquitoes over Germany as part of the Light Night Strike Force. For both, the danger was immense and required extraordinary skill and unbelievable courage. Their stories are truly incredible.
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Patriot or Traitor: The Life of Sir Walter Raleigh
On 29th October 1618 one of the most charismatic and controversial figures in English history was executed. Sir Walter Ralegh was an adventurer, poet and hero of Queen Elizabeth I. How could a man once considered favourite find himself consigned to the Tower? Anna Beer uncovers the truth about this problematic national hero who in his own lifetime polarised opinion, and whose legacy remains profoundly controversial.
The Once & Future Farm
Today farmers face unprecedented changes, exacerbated by Britain’s uncertain relationship with Europe. In this highly topical event, our experts discuss how farming has survived revolutions and reformations from the end of the 19th century to the present, and what can be done to ensure our mutual future prosperity.
Modern Iran: Revolutions, Republic and War
Iran remains an enigma to most of us in the West: once Persia, a land rich in culture, exoticism and history, but more recently a country embroiled in wars and an Islamic revolution. In this talk, Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History at the University of St Andrews, explains why modern Iran has evolved in the way it has.
The Secret World: The Lost History of Intelligence from the Ancient World to the 21st Century
What difference have security and intelligence operations made to the course of history? Professor Christopher Andrew, Britain’s foremost intelligence scholar, provides the answers. Beginning with the shift in the ancient world from divination to recognisable attempts to gather intelligence, he charts the development of intelligence and security operations through Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England and Napoleonic France, up to the present day.
THE BROTHER GARDENERS: BOTANY, EMPIRE AND THE BIRTH OF AN OBSESSION
Andrea Wulf tells the story of Philip Miller, Carl Linnaeus, Joseph Banks, David Solander and others who were friends, rivals and enemies united by a passion for plants. In this fascinating talk, history and gardening meet in the telling of the birth of Britain’s green-fingered obsession.
THE GOLDEN THREAD: HOW FABRIC CHANGED HISTORY
From 30,000-year-old threads found in a Georgian cave to the linen wrappings of Tutankhamun’s mummy; from the lace ruffs that infuriated the puritans to the Indian calicoes and chintzes that powered the Industrial Revolution, Kassia St Clair reveals how the continual reinvention of cloth weaves a fascinating story of human ingenuity.
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CABINET’S FINEST HOUR: THE HIDDEN AGENDA OF MAY 1940
Drawing on documents and minutes of the British War Cabinet meetings of May 1940, former Foreign Secretary Lord Owen reveals the passionate debates within the Cabinet that prevented Britain from seeking a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany. He explains how the post-war denial of the existence of these debates has had far-reaching consequences for Britain’s foreign and defence policy to this day.
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THE DARKENING AGE: THE CHRISTIAN DESTRUCTION OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD
The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. Catherine Nixey paints a dark but riveting picture of life at the time of the ‘triumph’ of Christianity and gives a gripping account of how the early Christians annihilated the teachings of the Classical world.
The Peasants' Revolt
In 1381, England erupted in a violent popular uprising. The Peasants’ Revolt was the biggest armed rebellion against Church and State in English history and for a short time, it looked as if all would be swept before them. Broadcaster and author, Lord Bragg vividly portrays this epic struggle between the powerful and the apparently powerless.
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THE VIKING AGE OF EXPLORATION
Dan Snow tells the story of the Viking expansion across the North Atlantic to the New World. What does the archeology tell us? How did they navigate across the vast expanse of ocean and why did they use reindeer droppings as a preservative? Dan Snow has followed the Vikings from Estonia to Newfoundland and here shares their remarkable story.
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THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR
Thanks to Shakespeare, the death of Julius Caesar is the most famous assassination in history. But what actually happened on 15 March 44 BC is even more gripping than Shakespeare’s play. With a fresh perspective, American historian Professor Barry Strauss sheds new light on this fascinating, pivotal and carefully planned paramilitary operation and the mole in Caesar’s entourage who betrayed him.
Henry VIII and the Men who Made Him
Henry VIII is well known for his tumultuous relationships with women, but his relationships with the men who surrounded him reveal much about his beliefs, behaviour and character. Tracy Borman provides a new perspective by analysing Henry through the men in his life. His cruelty and ruthlessness are infamous, but his fierce loyalty towards those he trusted indicates that he was never the one-dimensional monster of popular belief.
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WHEN BRITAIN BURNED THE WHITE HOUSE: THE 1814 INVASION OF WASHINGTON
In August 1814, the United States’ army was defeated in battle by a British invading force just outside Washington DC. In his compelling style, broadcaster and journalist Peter Snow recounts this unparalleled moment in American history, its far-reaching consequences for both sides and Britain’s and America’s decision never again to fight each other.
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JERUSALEM: THE HOLY CITY AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilisations. Best-selling author Simon Sebag Montefiore tells the epic history of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence.
ANCIENT WORLDS
Historian and broadcaster Michael Scott takes us on an epic journey of connections over 900 years. Explaining the birth of modern politics in Greece and Rome, the building of great empires, and the rise of great religions, he shows how our human story developed, and why the world exists as it does now.
KISSINGER 1923-1966: THE IDEALIST
No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Hailed as the ‘indispensable man,’ he has also attracted immense hostility. One of our most renowned historians Professor Niall Ferguson reveals an extraordinary panorama of Kissinger the man: from his Jewish upbringing in Germany to his rise as one of America’s most influential politicians and grand strategists.
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THE SPANISH ARMADA
In 1585 Spain was the most powerful empire in the known world. As tensions between Protestant England and Catholic Spain grew, Spain decided to invade England and so launched the Spanish Armada. Sam Willis gives a thrilling account that explains how the English managed to overthrow the Spanish invasion, who the key figures were and the tactics, triumphs and failures on both sides.
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JANE AUSTEN
Here the celebrated and best-selling biographer Claire Tomalin marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Jane Austen. Her Life of Jane Austen is unlikely to ever be surpassed. She presents this inimitable writer of some of the best-loved novels of all time as intensely intelligent, sensitive, tough and observant. Unmissable.
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EAST-WEST STREET: BACK TO THE 1930’s?
Acclaimed international human rights lawyer and winner of the 2016 Baillie Gifford Prize, Philippe Sands, traces the origins of the terms ‘genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity,’ a journey that took him on a very personal quest to uncover the tragic fate of the Jewish communities in Lviv and the area around it in what is now western Ukraine. It is a truly remarkable story.
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THE BATTLE OF ISANDLWANA
The Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 was one of the most devastating defeats suffered by Britain at the hands of local inhabitants. The incredible Douglas Rattray explains the battle from both sides, highlighting the courage of the desperate British soldiers and the gallantry of the proud Zulu warriors. Our Eurocentric understanding of this titanic clash has, for years, been that of a British blunder but was it, in fact, a great Zulu victory?
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OUR BOYS: THE STORY OF A FALKLANDS PARATROOPER
Helen Parr brings to life the human experiences of the paratroopers who fought in the Falklands, and examines the long aftermath of that short and symbolic war. She looks at the social and cultural history of a regiment with an aggressive reputation, while intertwining the personal story of her uncle who was killed during the conflict.
IN THE MOUTH OF THE WOLF: BROTHER, FATHER, TEACHER, SPY
Michael Morpurgo, one of Britain’s best-loved writers of children’s books, tells the incredible, true story of his uncles during World War II. The tale follows two brothers; Francis was a pacifist and conscientious objector, while Pieter signed up to fight. What happened next changed the course of Francis’s life forever, and threw him into the mouth of the wolf.
THE CAUSES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
In this talk for secondary school pupils, Professor Frank McDonough examines the causes of WWII. He looks at long-term factors such as the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations and the depression following the Wall Street Crash, before turning to Hitler. He was an exceptional individual who had laid out his expansionist intentions as early as 1925 in Mein Kampf. Hitler built up German armaments while successfully gambling against the weakness of his opponents.
THE REFORMATION
In the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation, Professor Peter Marshall talks about this seminal event, which engulfed Europe and was one of the most highly-charged, bloody and transformative periods in our collective history. Ever since, it has also remained one of the most contested.
I OBJECT: SATIRE AND SUBVERSION, A HISTORY OF DISSENT
Today dissent is relatively easy and commonplace. Our voices can be heard in protest, shared across social media and told through satire. But dissent is not a new phenomenon. Ian Hislop considers objects that ordinary people have created, adapted and used to mock and attack the status quo in societies as varied as Egypt in the 11th century BC, 16th century England and 20th century Afghanistan.
A NEW WAY OF SEEING: THE HISTORY OF ART
Cultural critic Kelly Grovier questions whether greatness can be attributed to a single indispensable detail, such as a spectral sixth finger that ghosts Mona Lisa’s hand and the unfinished pearl in Vermeer’s most famous painting. He combs the most revered paintings and sculptures in art history for overlooked details that, once spotted and explored, alter forever the way that we see and connect with these milestones of creativity.
THE LAST CAVALIER: PRINCE RUPERT OF THE RHINE
Described as ‘half man, half devil’ by the Parliamentarians, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Charles I’s nephew and commander of the Royalist forces in exile, was truly a man of two halves. Although nicknamed Prince Robber and renowned as a brutal general, dashing cavalier and Royalist pirate, Charles Spencer reveals the hidden side of Prince Rupert. He was a scientist, classical scholar and respected statesman too: a true Renaissance prince.
RICHARD III: BROTHER, PROTECTOR, KING
Richard III remains one of England’s most controversial monarchs. There are few parallels in English history that can match the drama of his reign, witnessed here in its full bloody intensity. Chris Skidmore strips back the legends that surround Richard’s life, showing the man as his contemporaries saw him, and presenting him as one of the most important figures in medieval history.
WEIMAR AND NAZI GERMANY
In this excellent talk for secondary schools, Professor Alexandra Richie, concentrating largely on Berlin, and the life and career of Adolf Hitler, shows how Weimar was a result of the First World War, and that, despite the image we have of Weimar, there were a great many continuities from Weimar Germany into Nazi Germany.
THE LONG SHADOW: THE GREAT WAR AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Has history distilled the 1914-18 Great War to a national myth of personal tragedies? Critically acclaimed historian and broadcaster Professor David Reynolds seeks to redress the balance by exploring the true impact of that war on the twentieth century. He shows how subsequent world-wide events shape and reshape our attitudes to a conflict Britain is still struggling to comprehend.
THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY
In this talk for secondary schools, Professor Olivette Otele begins with her own trajectory which has led to her becoming Britain’s first female black professor of history. She examines three questions: What is history? Why do we learn history? and How do we enquire into the past?
TO HELL AND BACK: EUROPE 1914-1949
One of our most eminent historians Professor Sir Ian Kershaw examines the effect two vast and catastrophic conflicts had on the lives of millions of Europeans. He wrestles with the most difficult issues that these events raise – what it meant for the Europeans who initiated and lived through such fearful times – and what this means for us now.
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THE LIFE OF A ROMAN LEGIONARY
Ben Kane is a best-selling author of historical fiction who has immersed himself in Roman history. After all, he has not only walked Hadrian’s Wall in full Roman legionary kit, but has also recreated Hannibal’s route through the Alps. In this exciting and interactive event, Ben explains what it was like to live and fight in the Caesars’ legions to a junior school audience.
THE GREAT EXPLORERS
What inspires explorers to push back the boundaries of the world? Why do they risk their lives in unforgiving conditions far from home? How do they survive at the limits of human endurance? Who are the great pioneers of land, sea and space? Robin Hanbury-Tenison charts the great expeditions of the most outstanding men and women who discovered our world, from da Gama to Gagarin.
THE 1917 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
In this lecture to senior school pupils, Dr George Gilbert talks about the Russian Revolution of 1917 and puts this in context by what came before and what happened after into the civil-war era of the 1920s. He covers war, revolution, civil war as well as the different interpretations of these events today.
CAPITALISM IN AMERICA: A HISTORY
Adrian Wooldridge, otherwise known as Bagehot from the Economist, describes America’s evolution from a small patchwork of colonies to an unsurpassed engine of wealth and innovation. He addresses the crucial debates, from the role of slavery in the antebellum Southern economy to the real impact of Roosevelt’s New Deal and America’s violent mood swings in its openness to global trade.
OUR UNINVITED GUESTS: THE SECRET LIVES OF BRITAIN’S COUNTRY HOUSES 1939-1945
At the beginning of the Second World War the government requisitioned thousands of houses to provide accommodation for the armed forces, secret services and government offices as well as vulnerable children, the sick and the elderly. Julie Summers gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in some of Britain’s greatest country houses that were occupied by people whose needs were at odds with their opulent surroundings.
AUNTIE’S WAR: THE BBC DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
As an essential propaganda tool and the voice that relayed news of all the key moments of World War II to every household, Auntie – the BBC’s enduring nickname – played a crucial role during World War II. Veteran BBC Radio presenter and journalist Edward Stourton provides a remarkable portrait of a unique institution and an incomparable insight into why we have the broadcast culture we do today.
10/5/21
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CHURCHILL: WALKING WITH DESTINY
When we seek an example of a great leader with unalloyed courage, the person who comes to mind is Winston Churchill: the iconic, visionary war leader, who stood firmly for his beliefs when everyone doubted him. But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when so many others had caved in? Andrew Roberts presents the definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy.
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FOOD AND COOKERY IN IRON AGE BRITAIN: FROM THE DIG TO THE PLATE
Caroline Nicolay, an experimental archaeologist specialising in Iron Age Britain, discusses just what it was that Iron Age men and women ate and what evidence they left behind, explaining much about our Celtic past.
THE PLANTAGENETS: BRITAIN’S BLOODIEST DYNASTY
The fifteenth century saw the crown change hands seven times as the great Plantagenet families fought to the death for power, majesty and the right to rule. Fresh from his brilliant TV series, Dan Jones breathes life into some of the greatest heroes and villains in English history, who tore themselves apart and enabled the Tudors to snatch the throne.
THE HEIRS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD: THE ORIGINS OF THE SHIA-SUNNI SCHISM
Within a generation of the Prophet Muhammed’s death, his followers had established Islam and a new civilisation. However, as acclaimed author Barnaby Rogerson explains, the seeds of discord that destroyed its unity and the roots of the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims were already present. This fascinating talk allows us to understand some of the complexities of our modern world.
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
In the great tradition of story-telling, Tom Holland turns to the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, an epic story of honour, adventure, dangerous women and a golden fleece. Told with wit, verve and passion, this magical tale of the first group of super-heroes is a treat for all, whether young or old.
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M: MAXWELL KNIGHT, BRITAIN’S GREATEST SPYMASTER
Maxwell Knight was a paradox. A jazz obsessive and nature enthusiast, he is seen today as one of MI5’s greatest spymasters, a man who did more than any other to break up British fascism. Drawing on declassified documents, private family archives and interviews, Henry Hemming reveals not just the shadowy world of espionage but also a brilliant, enigmatic man at its centre, known simply as M.
CHATSWORTH
Chatsworth has one of Europe’s most significant and diverse art collections which has grown with each generation, encompassing Old Masters, antiquities, contemporary ceramics, modern sculpture and computer portraits to name but a few. The 12th Duke of Devonshire talks through his predecessors’ contributions to the collection, the house and the surrounding landscape and touches upon the latest additions.
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THESE ISLANDS: A LETTER TO BRITAIN
In the first ever CVHF Directors’ Lecture, Professor Ali Ansari reveals, in a passionately eloquent plea, why Britain should re-examine some of its historical myths, and why misrepresentations of the past are harming the unity that is the bedrock of our United Kingdom.
ELIZABETH I AND HER WORLD
In this talk for secondary schools, historian and author of important textbooks Ben Walsh covers the background to Elizabeth I’s reign. He explains the lives of ordinary people in England at that time giving context to the events of the period. He also shows how historians investigate their subjects.
A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE AMERICAN SPY WHO HELPED WIN WORLD WAR II
In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: “She is the most dangerous of all Allies spies. We must find and destroy her.” The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organisation dubbed Winston Churchill’s “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” Sonia Purnell gives a brilliant talk on this astonishingly brave woman who became a linchpin of the Resistance and liberated swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day.
WAR AND GOLD: A FIVE HUNDRED YEAR HISTORY OF EMPIRE, ADVENTURES AND DEBT
In the sixteenth century, Spanish conquistadors discovered the New World. The vast quantities of gold and silver would make their country rich, yet the new wealth supported multiple wars, ultimately leading to the economic ruin of their empire. Kwasi Kwarteng examines the role that money has played in the destabilisation of societies and places the powerful relationship between war and gold at the centre of global history.
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A DISGUSTING LOOK AT HISTORY: FROM THE BLACK DEATH TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Comedian, author and lover of quirky history, Charlie Higson takes us on a journey through some of the more disgusting and revolting parts of history, from the bubonic plague and other horrible diseases and hideous agues to the myths of the zombie apocalypse. Despite the grotesque subject matter, this is suitable for all ages.
1821: THE GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
It began as a spark in the Peloponnese and grew to suck in the Great Powers. James Heneage describes an eleven-year adventure full of heroism and unspeakable savagery with a glittering, international cast that included Byron, Delacroix and hundreds of young philhellenes who went out to fight and die. It ended with the last naval battle fought under sail and changed Europe forever.
DEUTSCHES AFRIKASCORPS KNIGHTS CROSS WINNER
Günter Halm (1922-2017) discusses with James Holland and Rob Schäfer his fascinating wartime memories. He was a veteran of the Second World War who fought under Rommel in the Deutsches Afrikakorps, and who won the Knight’s Cross for his part in the First Battle of Alamein in July 1942, and later served in Normandy.
US FOREIGN POLICY SINCE THE COLD WAR
In this lecture to senior school pupils, Dr Christopher Fuller starts with an overview of a 100 years of history in a few minutes in order to understand the decisions made by policy-makers at the end of the Cold War. He covers the emergence of a unipolar age; the ‘end of history’ interpretation; how globalisation becomes a tool for pushing progress; and the classic civilisation theory. He finishes with the current state of affairs in America.
CHURCHILL: WALKING WITH DESTINY
When we seek an example of a great leader with unalloyed courage, the person who comes to mind is Winston Churchill: the iconic, visionary war leader, who stood firmly for his beliefs when everyone doubted him. But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when so many others had caved in? Andrew Roberts presents the definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy.
START AGAIN: HOW WE CAN FIX OUR BROKEN POLITICS
Britain today is divided by generation, education, place and attitude. In this time of tumult, when Britain is wrestling with the question of what sort of nation it wishes to be, its politics is stuck. Drawing on lessons from history, Philip Collins proposes new answers to today’s most urgent questions: questions of education, work, health, housing, security, nationhood, and of how we can achieve a better future.
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CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN THE VICTORIAN COUNTRYSIDE
In this talk for junior pupils at the Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools, Jamie Byrom tells of ‘Sarah’s Sad Story’. Using the local records in Devon from the Victorian era, he follows her from early childhood to her first job as a servant aged ten (although claiming to be thirteen) to her incarceration in prison a few years later.
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ARNHEM: THE BATTLE FOR THE BRIDGES, 1944
The battle of Arnhem, the great airborne fight for the bridges in 1944, was a courageous strategic gamble that failed. Britain’s best- selling historian Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Allied and German archives, reconstructs the terrible reality of the fighting and questions whether this plan to end the war could ever have worked, or whether it was always doomed to become the last German victory.
THE WOMAN WHO SAVED THE CHILDREN: EGLANTYNE JEBB
Eglantyne Jebb not only helped save millions of lives, she also permanently changed the way the world treats children through the foundation of Save the Children. Clare Mulley brings to life this brilliant, charismatic, and passionate woman, whose work took her between drawing rooms and war zones, defying convention and breaking the law, until she won support from everyone from Welsh coal miners to the British aristocracy, and from the Pope to the Communist regime in Moscow.
CHINA’S WAR WITH JAPAN 1937-45: A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
In 1937 the ‘Marco Polo Bridge Incident’ plunged China and Japan into a conflict of extraordinary duration and ferocity - a war that would result in many millions of deaths and completely reshape East Asia in ways that we continue to confront today. Professor Rana Mitter explains how Japan’s failure to defeat China was the key dynamic for what happened in Asia during WWII.
HISTORY’S PEOPLE: PERSONALITIES AND THE PAST
What difference do individuals make to history? Scrutinising the lives and behaviour of great and lesser-known figures of the past, internationally-acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan investigates the decisions they made that changed our lives irrevocably. What is the concept of leadership? And how, for better or worse, have personalities influenced the way we see our past and our present?
SAS: ROGUE HEROES
The history of the SAS is an exhilarating tale of fearlessness and heroism, recklessness and tragedy. Ben Macintyre, best-selling author of Agent Zigzag, tells the story of David Stirling, the eccentric young officer who was given permission by Churchill to recruit the most ruthless soldiers he could find, thereby founding the most mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.
VIETNAM: AN EPIC TRAGEDY 1945-1975
In an acclaimed retelling of the Vietnam tragedy, Max Hastings offers a balanced account of how and why the Vietnam War unfolded as it did, and a gripping description of what it was like to take part, based on the testimony of scores of participants - communist and anti-communist Vietnamese, Chinese railway engineers, Soviet missile crews, American soldiers, movie stars - whose experiences extended far beyond the battlefields.
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
The story of philosophy is an epic tale: from classical antiquity to the present, it is the unending quest for an understanding of reality, truth and value by some of the most creative minds in the world. Professor Anthony Grayling gives a comprehensive account of the great adventure of philosophy, mainly in the Western tradition but with overviews of the rich Indian, Chinese and Arabic-Persian traditions also.
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BAITING THE RUSSIAN BEAR
With Mary Ann Sieghart in the chair, Peter Frankopan, Marina Litvinenko and Edward Lucas look at the historical background to the rapidly re-emerging cold war. From the Napoleonic Wars to the Second World War and beyond, through to the current escalating tensions, they explain why the West has traditionally had such a fraught relationship with Russia.
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS
In this talk to senior school pupils, Dr Gareth Davies explains what ‘Jim Crow’ was, and what sustained it before examining what destabilised and finally destroyed it. He finishes by discussing what replaced ‘Jim Crow’ and shows evidence of progress.
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THE AGINCOURT ARCHER
Experimental archaeologist Dave Allan discusses the daily life of an English longbowman from his training to the skills needed. Drawing upon real artefacts from different bows to arrowheads, this offers a compelling insight.
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Shakespeare, a genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no others. A writer whose vision, originality and literary mastery were second to none. Professor Emma Smith debunks these common perceptions of the Bard and instead introduces an intellectually, theatrically and ethically exciting writer who treated topics such as individual agency, privacy, politics and celebrity in surprisingly modern ways.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED: THE STORIES IN OUR GENES
In a captivating journey through the expanding landscape of genetics, Adam Rutherford, geneticist and broadcaster, argues that our genomes should be read not as instruction manuals, but as epic poems. Touching on everything from Neanderthals to murder, redheads to race, and dead kings to plague, he decodes the mystery behind who we are and how we came to be.
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THE SHEPHERD’S LIFE
James Rebanks’s personal memoir and history of life as a Lakeland shepherd was a surprise best-seller, inspired by reading W.H. Hudson’s iconic account of a Wiltshire shepherd as a young man. In this talk he explains the timeless nature of this special form of farming which, in the Lakeland fells, remains largely unchanged over the centuries and where he still farms.
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TUDOR DYEING: FROM SHEEP TO CLOTH
From the process of dyeing to the weave, mother and daughter team Lindsey and George Ratcliffe demonstrate how Tudors would have prepared wool from fleece and turned it into a range of clothing.
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THEY CALLED IT PASSCHENDAELE
Lyn Macdonald remains revered as the great chronicler of the human experience of the Western Front and has recorded interviews with more veterans of the First World War than any other. In this talk she returns to the subject of her first book, the Battle of Passchendaele, fought over a hundred years ago in 1917, bringing rare insights and perspectives to this bloody, muddy and brutal battle.
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TEN CITIES THAT MADE AN EMPIRE
Historian, broadcaster and former Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt takes a new approach towards the history and decline of the British Empire. By examining the stories and defining ideas of ten of the most important cities, he shows how they transformed the culture, economy and identity of the British Isles for good.
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THE DREYFUS AFFAIR
In this talk, best-selling author Robert Harris turns to one of the key scandals in French history, the Dreyfus Affair. Discussing this infamous miscarriage of justice that rocked France in the years before the First World War, he brings new insights to this world of secret service dealings, cover-ups and betrayal...
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SOLDIER, SPY: A SURVIVOR’S TALE
Victor Gregg (born 1919) had an extraordinary war and his adventures did not end in 1945. In this very special event, he discusses with Rick Stroud what it was like fighting in North Africa, escaping the ruins of Dresden where he had been a prisoner of war on the night the city was bombed, and his post-war life as a spy.
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LIVING IN THE IRON AGE
In this talk, specially designed for younger pupils, Chris Culpin develops and widens their knowledge of the Iron Age. Using examples of their extraordinary metalwork and impressive hill-forts, the talk shows how different archaeological techniques continue to broaden our understanding of life in Iron Age Britain.
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NATO: SAFEGUARDING FREEDOM – 1949 TO THE PRESENT
General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, a former Commander of UK Land Forces, spent three years as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, working with our NATO allies. This talk outlines his thoughts on the history of NATO, the challenges it has faced and those that still confront it today as the ripples of discord sweep across the western world.
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THE BURNING CHAMBERS: THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION, HUGUENOTS v CATHOLICS
Kate Mosse discusses one of the darkest periods in French history. The Wars of Religion began in 1562 and ended, after millions had been massacred or displaced, with the Edict of Nantes in 1598. She examines the power struggles between Catholic and Protestant factions in Carcassonne, Paris, London and Amsterdam and how this dark history of religious intolerance and diaspora inspired her epic series of novels.
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THE SECRET LIFE OF BLETCHLEY PARK
The code breakers of Bletchley Park played an absolutely crucial part in the Allied victory in the Second World War. Best-selling historian Sinclair McKay tackles the story of this iconic place, drawing on his conversations with many of the brilliant men and women who served there during the war.
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SALAFI-JIHADISM: THE HISTORY OF AN IDEA
No topic has gripped the public imagination as dramatically as the spectre of global jihadism. While much has been said about the way jihadists behave, their ideology remains poorly understood. Shiraz Maher, an authority on radicalisation, charts the intellectual underpinnings of Salafi-Jihadism from its origins in the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the jihadist insurgencies of the 1990s and the 9/11 wars.
KING ALFRED AND THE BATTLE FOR WESSEX
Broadcaster and historian Professor Michael Wood tells the incredible story of King Alfred’s Battle for Wessex. After defeat at Chippenham, Alfred’s kingdom was reduced to a postage stamp of marshland in Somerset, yet he survived and built his army again, leading them to victory at Ethandun. It is unquestionably one of the great moments in English history.
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D-DAY: BY THOSE WHO WERE THERE
In this moving event to mark the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, two veterans of that campaign talk about their experiences with Stuart Tootal, former commander of 3 Para in Afghanistan. Fred Glover (1926-2020) was the only British infantryman known to have fought with the French Resistance while David Render (1925-1917) served with the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry.
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THE DRAMA OF THE GREAT REFORM BILL 1832
In November 1930, the Duke of Wellington declared. ‘the beginning of reform is the beginning of revolution. Despite his fears, a bill to introduce greater democracy was duly presented to Parliament. Eminent historian, Antonia Fraser, discusses with William Waldegrave how this most divisive of bills led to a complete change in the way Britain was governed.
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UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
At times America’s complicated system of Federalism has seemed like a model of rational and democratic government — at others it has seemed like a recipe for obstruction and chaos. Nicholas Cole discusses the circumstances in which America’s government was created, the objectives of its founders, and whether the assumptions of the eighteenth century are fit for purpose in the modern world.
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The First World War still captures the imagination, but how do you paint a picture of people that are long gone? How do you put their existence in context with the manner in which they died, so that future generations retain a connection to the human impact of WW1 that transcends tales of strategic success or failure? Alexandra Churchill talks about how she and others set out to preserve, or even create an emotional tie that makes it relevant to present and future generations.
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REMEMBERING THE FUTURE: HISTORY AS A CORDIAL FOR DROOPING SPIRITS
We cannot change the past, but we are responsible for how we remember it. The Irish, Welsh and Scots have recovered their sense of identity through a fresh remembering of their heritage. Richard Chartres, former Bishop of London, proposes a creative response to the post-Brexit challenges to the English national identity and examines what needs to be done to build a kindlier and more tolerant future.
MARGARET THATCHER: A LIFE AND LEGACY
As Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, and one of the most controversial figures in twentieth century Britain, few people have been more discussed than Margaret Thatcher. Preeminent academic Sir David Cannadine gives a historian’s perspective on the life, politics and legacy of this formidable leader. He is Dodge Professor of History at Princeton, and General Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
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BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS: CECIL BEATON, REX WHISTLER AND THE WILTSHIRE SET
From the hedonistic Bright Young Things of the 1920s emerged a group of artists who found inspiration and freedom in south Wiltshire where they discovered havens in which they could push the boundaries of artistic freedom. Cecil Beaton and Rex Whistler were among the finest artists of their generation, one a photographer and designer, the other a muralist and illustrator. James Holland sheds fascinating and moving new light on these two brilliant men and their achievements.
GAME OF QUEENS: THE WOMEN WHO MADE SIXTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE
Best-selling Tudor biographer Sarah Gristwood turns her expert eye to the Renaissance courts of Isabella of Castile, Margaret of Austria, Katherine of Aragon, Marguerite of Navarre, Anne Boleyn, Catherine de Medici, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth Tudor, Mary Stuart and others. An extraordinary cast of women who held power throughout the Continent in the face of great patriarchal opposition.
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONS
In this talk for senior school pupils, Jonathan Fenby outlines the causes of the French Revolution which began in 1789. He explains that this was the beginning of a cycle of revolutions followed by counter-revolutions and discusses how the French liked to believe that their country was a beacon of humanity with progressive values of citizenship yet tended to end up sticking with a comfortable conservatism.
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BRITAIN BEGINS
12,000 years ago, as the ice sheets retreated, bands of hunter- gatherers spread slowly northwards from mainland Europe, re- colonizing the islands we know as Britain and Ireland. Who were our early ancestors and how directly can we trace our modern population back to them? Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Oxford, explains what modern archaeology has revealed.
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A BRIDGE TOO FAR: A VETERAN OF ARNHEM
Peter Clarke was a glider pilot who landed and then fought with his fellow airborne troops at Arnhem in September 1944. Here, in conversation with Paul Beaver, he talks about and discusses his memories of that doomed battle and the remarkable story of what followed.
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BEHOLD, AMERICA: A HISTORY OF AMERICA FIRST AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
Professor Sarah Churchwell offers a history of “America First,” one of Trump’s campaign slogans. Although popular wisdom attributes the phrase to Charles Lindbergh and the isolationist “America First Committee” of 1940-1941, the expression has a longer, and darker, history, a story of nativism and the Ku Klux Klan, of “100 percent Americanism” and isolationism, and of a homegrown fascism that America continues to pretend “can’t happen here.”
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APPEASING HITLER: CHAMBERLAIN, CHURCHILL AND THE ROAD TO WAR
On 30th September 1938, Neville Chamberlain stepped off an aeroplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. He declared it was ‘peace for our time’, but within a year Britain was at war with Germany. Tim Bouverie gives a compelling reappraisal of the immense drama of those disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy and parliamentary infighting that enabled Nazi domination of Europe.
THE CRUSADES AND MEDIEVAL WARFARE
In this talk for senior schools, Professor Jeremy Black gives an insight into the motivations of the Crusaders. In addition to the notion that Jerusalem should be ‘freed’, this period saw the expansionism of European feudal society, a new role for the papacy, and developing commercial opportunities, as well as a desire to protect Constantinople. He shows the dynamism of warfare on both sides with the increasing significance of cavalry and the continued importance of infantry and siege warcraft.
THE PATIENT ASSASSIN: A TRUE TALE OF MASSACRE, REVENGE AND THE RAJ
On April 13th 1919, the British Indian Army opened fire on a crowd attending an unauthorised public meeting in Amritsar. Over 1,000 unarmed Indians were killed. Among the survivors was a young man who made a vow of vengeance that would ultimately prove successful. Prompted by her own family connections to the Amritsar massacre, Anita Anand tells the remarkable story of one Indian’s twenty-year quest for revenge.
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THE NOBLE REVOLT: THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
John Adamson is one of the country’s most brilliant historians and a leading authority on the Civil War. In this talk, he discusses what he calls ‘the noble revolt,’ challenging some of our perceptions of that conflict between Parliament and King while casting new and relevant light onto one of the most tumultuous and significant periods in British history.
Jean Jammes was a schoolboy in 1944 when, that summer, he joined the Resistance group led by his father in the countryside around Épernon. Involved in numerous actions of sabotage, he also helped capture three German officers and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. In this very special event he talks to Peter Caddick-Adams about his own part in the Liberation of France.
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ISTANBUL: A TALE OF THREE CITIES
Award-winning historian, author and broadcaster Bettany Hughes gives a captivating portrait of the momentous life of Istanbul based on meticulous research gathered over a decade and brand new archaeological evidence. A ground-breaking history of this world-class city from its very beginnings in Neolithic times through 8,000 years of human habitation to the present.
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IMMIGRATION IN ANTIQUITY
Immigration is one of the most hotly debated matters of our current age, but it’s far from being a recent phenomenon. Rather, the mass movement of peoples was as relevant to those living in ancient times as it is now. In this timely talk, Tom Holland questions how people in antiquity felt about immigration and its impact on the course of ancient history.
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THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE EMPIRE OF THE IMAGINATION
Worshipped, pilloried, and forever debated. Such is the fate of Thomas Jefferson, whose actions and ideas — more than those of any of the other Founding Fathers —still divide Americans two centuries later. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Harvard Professor Annette Gordon-Reed extends the analysis of Jefferson in light of prevailing attitudes towards politics, slavery, genetics, and gender, thereby giving new insights into his views on Christianity, slavery, race and philosophy.
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THE SILK ROADS: A NEW HISTORY OF THE WORLD
In this brilliant major reassessment of world history, Peter Frankopan gives a compelling account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east. He explores the forces that have driven the rise and fall of empires, determined the flow of ideas and goods and are now heralding a new dawn in international affairs.
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HERODOTUS: THE FATHER OF HISTORY
The ‘Father of History’ was a Greek living in Persia in the 5th century BC but was the first person to write down the stories from the past. Herodotus’ Histories remains one of the richest and most read books of all time, and in this talk renowned classicist Professor Paul Cartledge discusses the life of this great man, his enduring legacy and his relevance even to this day.
THE PARIS PEACE TREATIES
This talk by Dr Peter Caddick-Adams for senior pupils at the Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools, challenges some assumptions about the aftermath of the First World War. The armistice in 1918 was a truce but fighting continued in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for several years. He explains that the Treaty of Versailles was actually five treaties as well as covering the ‘flu pandemic, hyperinflation in Germany, American isolation and the rise of Mussolini.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 1847
Turtle Bunbury takes a fast-paced look at the world as it was 170 years ago. Featuring an exceptional cast of characters from those who explored the world’s oceans to show stopping entertainers, his talk also encompasses the intrepid pioneers who crossed the prairies of the Americas, the genius of Liszt and Mendelssohn, the Irish soldiers who fought for Mexico and the tale of a dinosaur-loving Dorset girl.
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THE WITCH CRAZE
In this talk for senior schools, Tracy Borman discusses the history of the witch hunt which started in the 15th Century and swept across Europe until the mid-18th Century, reaching a peak in England and Scotland under King James I. She examines what started the craze, and reveals what it meant.
NO TURNING BACK: LIFE, LOSS AND HOPE IN WARTIME SYRIA
Award-winning journalist Rania Abouzeid presents reportage of unprecedented scope. From the first rumblings of dissent in 2011, she shows the unravelling of a nation: peaceful protests collapsing into violence, families shattered, and religious conviction sharpened by rage to a radical point. She reveals how Syrians found new ways to resist as the cruelty of the dictatorial regime – and the rising threat of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State – tore their homeland apart.