History Event
History Day at Charterhouse School
Valentine Low, Daniel Swift, Victoria Bateman & Alison Weir
• Four renowned historians in one day
• Learn more about Britain’s story in an historic setting
• Opportunity to meet the authors and have books signed
• Free access to the extensive grounds during breaks
Valentine Low – Power and the Palace
Power and the Palace is the follow-up to Low’s bestselling Courtiers. The new book lifts the lid on the mysterious power dynamic at the heart of the British state – the secretive and poorly understood relationship between the monarchy and the government. Featuring every sovereign from Queen Victoria to King Charles, and looking forward to the future reign of King William, the book seeks to understand how Britain has gone from a country where the monarch assumed the right to appoint the prime minister of their choice to one where they go to almost extreme lengths to distance themselves from the process. At the same time the monarch retains a crucial role as head of the nation. Based on nearly 100 interviews with senior politicians, top civil servants, royal aides and constitutional experts, Power and the Palace rewrites our understanding of the political power of the monarchy.
Daniel Swift – The Dream Factory: London's First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare
In 1576, in a muddy field in Shoreditch, James Burbage erected London’s first purpose-built commercial playhouse. Through the life of this little-known playhouse, discover how Shakespeare became Shakespeare, the Elizabethan stage began to flourish and the world that produced Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Daniel Swift teaches at the New College of the Humanities in London. His first book, Bomber County, was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize and the Guardian First Book Award, and his essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, New Statesman, and Harper’s Magazine.
“The Dream Factory is one of the most exciting and original books about Shakespeare that I’ve read in years. Deeply researched, beautifully written, it brings to life how Shakespeare ‘became Shakespeare’ and created his early masterpieces at the Theatre in Shoreditch. A thrilling story, well told.”
Victoria Bateman – Economica
Humanity’s journey from poverty to prosperity is filled with men who have become household names, but how many female entrepreneurs, merchants and industrialists can you name?
Women have never been 'missing' from economic life - they were simply hidden from view by those writing the history books.
Historian,Victoria Bateman joins us to discuss, Economica - where she rescues these women from obscurity, charting the vital role many have played, from hunter-gatherers to AI engineers, in a thrilling, globespanning narrative that rewrites our understanding of economic history.
Alison Weir – The Cardinal
Join bestselling author Alison Weir as she returns to the Festival to speak about her new book on Cardinal Wolsey. Alison's new novel tells the story of Wolsey the man, his incredible rise to power and his tragic fall.
“A rich and textured portrait of Cardinal Wolsey”
