Wonders In The Deep sees renowned archaeologist Mensun Bound, who headed the team that discovered Shackleton’s Endurance, join forces with our guest today, journalist Mark Frary, to argue that human history is as much about maritime exploration as it is about what happens on land.
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were scathing. Written off as a social climber, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true legacy. Much of what she did behind the scenes to shape the 20th century remained invisible… until now. With a wealth of fresh research, Sonia Purnell unveils the spectacular story of how Harriman left an indelible mark on the world today as, over five decades, she influenced figures including Churchill, the Kennedys, Sinatra, Nelson Mandela, Truman Capote and Gloria Steinem.
What was it like as one of a handful of women at the heart of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s? It had its ups - but also its downs. Helen Lederer was a regular on the stand-up circuit and new-wave sketch shows in the decade that launched the careers of today's national treasures, sharing stages with Ben Elton, and TV screens with Harry Enfield, and French and Saunders. From the iconic Absolutely Fabulous, to Bottom, French and Saunders and Girls on Top, it’s difficult to think of a comedy show that Helen wasn't a part of.
As England’s most celebrated dynasty, it’s often overlooked that the Tudors have their origins in rural Wales, far from the centres of English power where they dared to become great.
Bestselling author and legendary broadcaster Simon Mayo brings his spellbinding new thriller to Lichfield!
Your house is on fire. What do you save? You have seconds to decide. If everything is about to burn, what do you rescue first?
BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and journalist, Mark Lane, visits the Festival for the first time with his new book The Future of Gardens. How could our gardens grow? Designer and broadcaster Mark Lane considers the green spaces of the future, amazing advances in technology, and the challenges of an increasingly extreme climate.
Love her or loathe her, Margaret Thatcher more than made her mark on the UK’s political and social history. Today’s special Festival event commemorates the centenary of her birth in 1925.
Charles Moore is the authorised biographer of Margaret Thatcher. His final volume, Herself Alone, was published in 2019.
Britain has produced some of the world’s most famous artists and paintings. But what made British art ‘great’? Was it the individual genius of artists like Hogarth and Constable, or were careers shaped by a distinctly ‘British’ society, culture and history? The Invention of British Art takes a journey of discovery through an incredible array of artworks and artists from 10,000 BCE to the 19th Century, revealing how the art from these isles was created and why it took so long to emerge.
History for Tomorrow unearths fascinating insights and inspiration from the last 1000 years of world history that could help us confront the most pressing concerns of the 21st Century. From bridging the inequality gap and reducing the risks of genetic engineering, to reviving our faith in democracy and avoiding ecological collapse, History for Tomorrow shows that history is not simply a means of understanding the past but a dynamic way to reimagine our relationship with the future.
The Summer Guests is the exhilarating and gripping new thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author of The Spy Coast. The Martini Club isn’t open to everyone. Maggie Bird’s ‘book group’ is an unusual one – a group of retired spies living an anonymous life in the seaside town of Purity. And this summer they plan little more than ‘reading’ (whilst sipping martinis), and some gentle birdwatching. But trouble is just around the corner as the summer guests arrive to packed streets, bar brawls, petty theft. And now, a missing teenager down by the lake.
We live in a world where uncertainty is inevitable. How should we deal with what we don’t know? And what role do chance, luck and coincidence play in our lives? The Art of Uncertainty shows us how the principles of probability can help us think more analytically about everything from medical advice to pandemics and climate change forecasts… explaining along the way why roughly 40% of football results come down to luck rather than talent, and why we can be so confident that two properly shuffled packs of cards have never, ever been in the exact same order.
History is rarely kind to women of power but few have had their reputations so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici, the Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive sons. Thrust suddenly into the spotlight by the untimely death of her husband, her position was ambiguous and not made easier by the frailties of these sons, nor by her courtiers, villainous characters who placed their own ambitions before loyalty to the crown.
