Festivals
Details of the larger festival - including ticket-buying - here
Entry to the main Festival of History grants you free access to the Festival of Historical Literature
Festival of Literary History: Programme 2012
Presented by the Historical Writers’ Association and English Heritage
Saturday 14th July 2012
10.30 – 11.30 (last 5 minutes of each hour is clear-out time)
Armies of Rome: The legions at their best
Ben Kane, Anthony Riches, Douglas Jackson
11.40 – 12.40
Heroes of History: Warlords and Conquerors
Robyn Young, John Man, James Aitcheson, Angus Donald
12.50 – 13.50
Commanding in Battle: Montgomery and Rommel in two World Wars.
Peter Caddick-Adams, Q/A with Tim Lynch
14.00 - 15.00
Before Sherlock: The Georgian predilection for murder
Imogen Robertson, Rose Melikan, Lloyd Shepherd, Hallie Rubenhold
15.10 – 16.10
The English Civil War: Bloody strife and political mayhem
Fiona Mountain, Giles Kristian, Michael Arnold,
16.20 – 17.20 Forgotten Heroes: Who really fights the wars? AL Berridge, Stewart Binns, Michael Jecks *** 18:00 – 19:00 Come and meet the authors: all authors + drinks/nibbles for Re-enactors Sunday 15th July 10.30 – 11.30 Weapons: My sword’s bigger than your sword! Robert Low – Harry Sidebottom 11.40 – 12.40 Grand Beginnings: Three authors of Debut Historical Novels will be interviewed by MC Scott Ellen Bryson, Hallie Rubenhold, Robert Wilton 12.50 – 13.50 Great Queens: Women in Power Stella Duffy, Theresa Breslin, Karen Maitland, Kate Williams 14.00 – 15.00 Comrades, Conspiracies and Consequences - How non-fiction can be stranger than fiction in Castro's Cuba and Stalin's Russia Alex von Tunzelmann, William Ryan 15.10 – 16.10 The Great Wars: WWI and WWII – what was it really like? Diaries and letters home - Paul Dowswell, Laura Wilson, Kate Lord Brown 16.20 – 17.20 The Art of Spying: Espionage through the ages Robert Wilton, Manda (MC) Scott, Elizabeth Wein, Andrew Swanston *************
What: THE HWAl FESTIVAL OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE – in partnership with English Heritage
Where: Kelmarsh Hall Estate, north of Northampton. NN6. The entry is on the A508, close to its junction with the A14. – See the Kelmarsh website for details of access: http://www.kelmarsh.com/
When: 14th and 15th of July 2012
Who: The HWA, in partnership with English Heritage, bring you our first Festival of Historical Literature.
Imagine a pavilion set in the middle of a battlefield. Then imagine it set in the middle of three battlefields… of different eras, with different weapons and different armies and different rules of engagement. Imagine the spitfire fly-past and the military parade that takes in battalions from the dark ages through to the second world war. This is the English Heritage Festival of History at Kelmarsh: one of the biggest festivals of living history in the country, and now one of the biggest festivals of historical literature.
The full schedule is laid out in detail below, but spread over two days, we will have a combination of debates: (‘What did the Romans do for us?’ Manda Scott vs Tony Riches); author panels: (‘Criminal History’ Andrew Taylor and others; ‘Great Battles of History’: Simon Scarrow and friends; ‘Myths and Legends through the Ages’ – Robyn Young and others); dual and single author events (‘The Vikings are Coming!’ Rob Low and Giles Kristian; ‘Warhorse’ Michael Morpurgo interviewed by Nick Clee; Michelle Paver) that will make this a weekend to remember for all concerned.
As well as the lecture pavilion, there will, of course, be a signing tent packed full of books, a ‘Green Room’ for authors to gather before their events – and a Hospitality Tent where readers can meet their favourite authors in less formal surroundings.
The events will be ticketed to monitor numbers, but the tickets will be free. You pay to enter Kelmarsh, but there is NO extra charge for the literary festival.
For those who want to explore the rest of the weekend’s events, the English Heritage website will have increasing details as we approach the date:
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