Douglas Smith wins the first Pushkin House Russian Book Prize, sponsored by Waterstones
The American author is named as the winner of the inaugural Pushkin House Russian Book Prize, at a ceremony at this year's Hay Festival. Read more
Category Archives: History
“Teutonic inefficiency” – James Holland
The war historian busts myths and cries, God for Harry, England, and St George! And he's brought props...
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“I want him to be my teacher.” Simon Scarrow
Dan Lewis agrees with the children in the audience that Simon Scarrow can teach like no other... Read more
“Conspiracy or accident?” – Simon Sebag Montefiore
Simon Sebag Montefiore is driven by excitement, adventure and a need to understand power... Read more
Keep your friends close: Jonathan Haslam
This afternoon at Hay, Professor of the History of International Relations at Cambridge University, Jonathan Haslam explained how, despite his personal paranoia, Stalin's first instinct was to trust friends.. Read more
Why would anyone walk Hadrian’s Wall in full Roman military kit?
Historical novelist Ben Kane tells us why he's doing exactly that, and how you can help... Read more
On slippery spaces and not being an historian – Elizabeth Fremantle
Novelist Elizabeth Fremantle, whose novel Queen's Gambit is published today, talks about walking the dangerous line where fact meets fiction... Read more
Beyond Bagels and Nazis – Sam Leith on the Jewish Quartely-Wingate Prize 2013
This week is Jewish Book Week, and sees the announcement of the Jewish Quartely-Wingate Prize 2013. Journalist and author of The Coincidence Engine, Sam Leith, looks at the rich breadth of the Prize's scope, and why this makes for such an interesting and diverse shortlist...
Read more “Richard was that rarity, a king who died on the field of battle.” – Sharon K Penman
Today, with the announcement that bones found beneath a Leicester car park have been positively identified as belonging to King Richard III, novelist Sharon K. Penman looks at the influence the much-maligned monarch has had on her writing and the historical accuracy of Shakespeare's Richard... Read more Book of the Month – February
Our Book of the Month for February is Toby's Room by Pat Barker.
Read more Book of the Month – January
Our Book of the Month for January is Laurent Binet's HHhH.
Read more A Line In The Sand…
With the recent troubles in the Middle East quieted by a cease-fire for the time being, James Barr, author of A Line In The Sand, tells us how one British journalist found himself at the centre of the struggle between France and Britain for dominance in the Middle East...
Read more Now You See It – The Truth About Jasper Maskelyne and the Battle of Alamein
Rick Stroud, author of The Phantom Army Of Alamein, reveals how Jasper Maskelyne conjured up a place in history for himself... Read more
“It’s the way history is tethered to the present that’s interesting…” Kate Morton
Kate Morton is on a flying visit to the UK, so we grabbed a few minutes with her to discuss her new book, The Secret Keeper, what draws her to write about Britain, and her father's ghostly visions... Read more “What they want to be is lied to…” Richard Ford on America, and the election
Richard Ford spoke to us about the upcoming US election, and how America is perhaps "almost ungovernable".
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