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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T113000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122738
CREATED:20240515T140714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240815T161101Z
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SUMMARY:Chris Atkins – Time After Time
DESCRIPTION:A funny\, touching\, challenging and campaigning book about our prisons’ crisis by the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Bit of a Stretch. \n\n\n\nBritish prisoners have to endure the most inhumane and barbaric conditions imaginable\, so why do so many of them keep going back? \n\n\n\n80% of criminals who receive cautions or convictions are reoffenders.46% of ex-prisoners are re-convicted within a year of leaving prison.Reoffending costs the taxpayer £18 billion per year. \n\n\n\nThe numbers are staggering. But the reasons behind them will shock you. Former inmate and documentary maker Chris Atkins has spent the last six years tracking the fortunes of a dozen repeat offenders to understand why the state fails to keep them out of trouble. \n\n\n\nFeaturing funny\, wild and poignant stories\, Time After Time exploits Chris’s unprecedented access to the criminal underworld to understand why the system actually makes reoffending all but inevitable for ex-prisoners. \n\n\n\n‘Eloquent\, witty\, engaging and enraged … the most important book you’ll read this year.’ Sathnam Sanghera \n\n\n\n‘Chris Atkins brings a unique perspective\, an unflinching eye and a dark sense of humour to hidden stories from the underbelly of the British justice system. Time after Time is entertaining\, unsettling\, illuminating and important.’ Rafael Behr \n\n\n\nChris Atkins is a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker. His documentaries Taking Liberties and Starsuckers were critically acclaimed and made front-page news. He has also worked extensively with Dispatches for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama. Following his release from prison\, he is now back in North London\, filming documentaries and writing. \n\n\n\nThis event is kindly sponsored by John and Jennie Paterson \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/chris-atkins-time-after-time/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/time-after-time-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T130000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20240515T140713Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240816T105417Z
UID:10000079-1729339200-1729342800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Mick Conefrey – Fallen
DESCRIPTION:On 6 June 1924\, George Mallory donned an oxygen set and set off for the summit of Everest with his young partner Andrew Irvine. Two days later they were glimpsed through clouds heading upwards\, but after that\, they were never seen again. Whether they died on the way up or on the way down no one knows.In the years following his disappearance\, Mallory was elevated into an all-British hero. Dubbed by his friends the ‘Galahad’ of Everest\, he was lionised in the press as the greatest mountaineer of his generation who had died while taking on the ultimate challenge. Handsome\, charismatic and daring\, he was a skilled public speaker\, an athletic and technically gifted climber\, a committed Socialist and a supremely attractive figure to both men and women. \n\n\n\nHis friends ranged from the gay artists and writers of the Bloomsbury group to the best mountaineers of his era. But that was only one side to him. Mallory was also a risk taker who according to his friend and biographer David Pye\, could never get behind the wheel of a car without overtaking the vehicle in front\, a climber who pushed himself and those around him to the limits\, a chaotic technophobe who was forever losing equipment or mishandling it\, the man who led his porters to their deaths in 1922 and his young partner to his uncertain end in 1924. \n\n\n\nSo who was the real Mallory and what were the forces that made him and ultimately destroyed him? Why did the man who denounced oxygen sets as ‘damnable heresy’ in 1922 perish on an oxygen-powered summit attempt two years later? And above all\, what made him go back to Everest for the third time? \n\n\n\nBased on diaries\, letters\, memoirs and thousands of contemporary documents\, Fallen is both a forensic account of Mallory’s last expedition to Everest in 1924 and an attempt to get under his skin and separate the man from the myth. \n\n\n\nMick Conefrey is an award winning writer and documentary maker. He made the landmark BBC series Mountain Men and Icemen and The Race for Everest to mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent. His previous books include Everest 1953\, the winner of a LeggiMontagna award\, and The Ghosts of K2 which won a US National Outdoor Book award in 2017. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/mick-conefrey-fallen/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fallen-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T133000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T143000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20240515T140713Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240815T160920Z
UID:10000080-1729344600-1729348200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Tom Baldwin – Keir Starmer\, The Biography
DESCRIPTION:This authoritative biography by Tom Baldwin provides answers by drawing deeply on many hours of interviews with the Labour leader himself\, as well as unprecedented access to members of his family\, his oldest friends and closest colleagues. \n\n\n\nTogether\, they tell an unexpectedly intimate story filled with feelings of grief and love that has driven him on more than any rigid ideology or loyalty to a particular faction. \n\n\n\nThe book tracks Starmer’s emergence from a troubled small town background and rebellious youth\, through a storied legal career as a human rights barrister and the country’s chief prosecutor\, to becoming an MP relatively late in life. \n\n\n\nBaldwin provides a vivid and compelling account of how this untypical politician then rose to be leader of his party in succession to Jeremy Corbyn\, then transformed it with a ruthless rapidity that has enraged opponents from the left just as much as it has bewildered those on the right. \n\n\n\nAbove all\, this is a book that should be read by anyone who wants to understand how someone who has too often been underestimated or dismissed as dull\, now intends to change Britain. \n\n\n\nThis will be the most important political book of the year’ MATTHEW D’ANCONA\, EVENING STANDARD \n\n\n\n‘The first serious and consistently readable biography of Starmer…It is a wonder that he has said so much to Baldwin’ PATRICK MAGUIRE\, THE TIMES \n\n\n\n‘Required reading for anyone who has an interest in who governs Britain’ ALASTAIR CAMPBELL \n\n\n\n‘Highly readable… Baldwin has peeled back more layers than anyone else’ ROBERT SHRIMSLEY\, FINANCIAL TIMES \n\n\n\n‘Tom Baldwin’s portrait is of a tough\, conscientious\, and kindly man with the right values’ ANDREW MARR\, NEW STATESMAN \n\n\n\n‘A highly informative\, illuminating and insightful biography… the most complete portrait we have yet been offered’ OBSERVER \n\n\n\nTom Baldwin is a journalist and writer who has worked for The Times and The Sunday Telegraph. He was a senior political adviser to Ed Miliband and the Labour Party’s director of communications and strategy. \n\n\n\nTom Baldwin will be in conversation with Danny Danziger. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/tom-baldwin-keir-starmer-the-biography/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Kier-Starmer-The-Biography.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T153000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T163000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20240515T140712Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240816T105125Z
UID:10000081-1729351800-1729355400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Michael Mansfield – The Power in the People
DESCRIPTION:The internationally renowned human rights barrister shows us how the powerto change the world is in the hands of people\, not the people in power.‘I want this book to inspire people\, give them a blueprint for fighting their own battles\, and challenge the status quo. To see that together\, we are always stronger. To understand that those who stand in the way of change cannot do so forever.’ Michael Mansfield\, KC \n\n\n\nBarrister Michael Mansfield\, KC \, has spent his career fighting injustice\, persecution and corruption. And be it the Birmingham Six\, Bloody Sunday\, Stephen Lawrence\, the Marchioness\, Hillsborough or Grenfell\, he has come to learn one thing – that people power is unstoppable. Time and again he has witnessed governments\, police forces\, legal institutions and the establishment\, try to block change and maintain the status quo in order to protect their interests. But almost every time he has seen that passion\, perseverance\, collectivity and courage create a powerful momentum which is increasingly difficult to stop. \n\n\n\nIn this short but powerful book\, the veteran barrister draws upon his 50 years of fighting for justice and revisits his most important cases and clients\, proving without doubt that when people get together they can make lasting and positive change. The power is in the people – not the people in power. \n\n\n\nMichael Mansfield KC is an English barrister and head of chambers at Nexus Chambers. He was recently described as “The king of human rights work” by The Legal 500 and as a leading Silk in civil liberties and human rights. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/michael-mansfield-the-power-in-the-people/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-power-in-the-people.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T173000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T183000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20240605T150946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240815T160727Z
UID:10000098-1729359000-1729362600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Jonathan Dimbleby – Endgame 1944: How Stalin Won The War
DESCRIPTION:June 1944. Operation Bagration: the greatest defeat ever suffered by the German Armed Forces. More than two million Red Army soldiers\, facing 500\,000 German adversaries\, finally avenged their defeat in Operation Barbarossa three years earlier. In the ensuing three weeks\, Hitler’s Army Group Centre lost 28 of its 32 divisions.While the same month saw the Allies triumph on the beaches of Normandy\, it was in fact the events on the Eastern Front in 1944 that were the knockout blow in the Second World War. Despite the myths that remain today\, it was this brutal struggle from the Baltic to the Black Sea that saw the Wehrmacht crucially defeated.Drawing on previously untranslated German and Russian sources – many from ‘ordinary’ soldiers – bestselling historian Jonathan Dimbleby describes and analyses with authority and panache this momentous year in the East. He illuminates the bloody battles that raged along the 2000 kilometres-long front\, while also explaining the unusual roles played by deception\, the partisans\, and the war within a war in Ukraine.Dimbleby’s gripping\, masterly narrative sets the drama of the relationships between the “big three” of Churchill\, Roosevelt and Stalin against the history being created on the battlefield\, and shows how his victories in 1944 enabled the Soviet leader to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement and lay the foundations for the Cold War. \n\n\n\nJonathan Dimbleby is the author of The Battle of the Atlantic and Destiny in the Desert: The Road to El Alamein\, which was shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman Prize and was followed by his BBC2 programme Churchill’s Desert War. His other books include\, Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People\, Richard Dimbleby: A Biography\, The Palestinians\, The Prince of Wales: A Biography and The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong. \n\n\n\nJonathan Dimbleby will be in conversation with Allan Mallinson. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00/£6.00 (students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/jonathan-dimbleby-endgame-1944/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Endgame-jkt-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241019T203000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20240704T100746Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241019T083949Z
UID:10000105-1729366200-1729369800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Mike Brearley – Turning Over the Pebbles
DESCRIPTION:Mike Brearley reviews his life with all its attendant emotions\, tensions and moves\, in what he calls ‘memoir of the mind’. This is book of his second thoughts and reassessments\, allowing him to understand more fully things that were obscure to him earlier. After all\, he says\, ‘captaining ourselves\, like captaining a team\, requires a willingness to allow thoughts and feelings their space’.Deeply thoughtful\, erudite and elegantly framed\, this book seamlessly blends all aspects of Brearley’s life into a single integrated narrative. With wide-ranging meditations on sport\, philosophy\, literature\, religion\, leadership\, psychoanalysis\, music and more\, Brearley delves into his private passions and candidly examines the various shifts\, conflicts and triumphs of his extraordinary life and career\, both on and off the field. \n\n\n\nMike Brearley was educated at Cambridge\, where he read classics and moral sciences\, and captained the university. He played for Middlesex County Cricket Club intermittently from 1961 to 1970\, and regularly from 1971\, captaining the side until his retirement in 1982. He first played for England in 1976 and captained the side from 1977 to 1980\, winning seventeen test matches and losing only four. He was recalled to the captaincy in 1981 for the Ashes home series\, leading England to one of their most famous victories. From 1981\, he trained and continues to work as a psychoanalyst\, and is a lecturer both on leadership and on psychoanalysis. He is the author of the bestselling The Art of Captaincy\, On Form\, On Cricket\, Spirit of Cricket and has written on cricket and the psychology of sport for the Sunday Times\, Observer\, The Times and Prospect. \n\n\n\nMike Brearley will be in conversation with Paul Atterbury. \n\n\n\nTickets £12/£6 (Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/mike-brearley-turning-over-the-pebbles/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Turning-Over-the-Pebbles-PBK-cover.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251016T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251016T160000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250513T085307Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T102615Z
UID:10000106-1760623200-1760630400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:The DLF Local Writers’ Forum – hosted by Don Nordberg
DESCRIPTION:A gathering where writers with a local connection or subject can present their published work (fiction or non fiction) to other writers and anyone interested in writing. The event will be hosted by Don Nordberg. This is a great way to meet fellow authors and others with an interest in writing. Authors will be allocated a time slot and have an opportunity to sign and sell books. \n\n\n\nDon Nordberg is a literary magpie\, a journalist-turned-consultant-turned-academic\, and the author of two books on corporate governance\, with manuscripts of two novels edging towards publication. He’s published poems in small journals and research papers in prominent ones. He reads philosophy\, political theory\, and potboilers\, too. A Chicago native\, he’s lived in Britain\, Germany\, Switzerland\, and the US while working for Reuters\, and held professorial roles in management at Bournemouth University and in financial journalism at City University of London. He now writes two Substack publications: How to govern [not like that]\, and DonNordberg (is/on) writing\, and he convenes the Dorset local group of the Society of Authors.  \n\n\n\nPlease get in touch via contact@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com if you would like to present your book at this event. \n\n\n\nTickets £6.00 (free for writers presenting their work)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/the-dlf-local-writers-forum-hosted-by-don-nordberg/
LOCATION:Shire Hall Museum Cafe\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1UY\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T113000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250507T083835Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251014T101440Z
UID:10000131-1760783400-1760787000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Tim Spector – Ferment – The life changing power of microbes
DESCRIPTION:Tim Spector is on a mission to bring fermenting into our lives and kitchens. Drawing on the latest science and his own experiments\, Ferment is an accessible introduction to the life-changing benefits of fermentation – for beginners and enthusiasts alike. \n\n\n\nFermenting is one of the most ancient\, nutritious and cheap techniques for preparing and preserving food and drink. With little more than time\, patience and basic equipment\, the humblest of ingredients can be transformed into nutritious foods with an astonishing range of benefits for our gut health\, immunity and daily mood. Including practical tips and some of his favourite recipes\, Ferment cuts through myths and misunderstanding to help us navigate the fascinating world of ferments and shows how they can help improve our health\, our meal times and our planet.Tim Spector is Professor of Epidemiology at King’s College London. He is the bestselling author of The Diet Myth\, Spoon-Fed\, Food for Life and The Food for Life Cookbook\, and scientific co-founder of ZOE\, the nutrition science company. With a focus on cutting-edge science and honoured with an OBE for his work in fighting Covid-19\, Tim stands at the forefront of his field. The original pioneer of microbiome research\, he is among the top 100 most cited scientists in the world. \n\n\n\nTim Spector will be in conversation with Jenny Devitt. \n\n\n\nPlease note there is an overlap between this event and the preceding one\, so you will not be able to attend both. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/tim-spector-ferment-the-life-changing-power-of-microbes/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ferment-jkt-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T120000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250507T084051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250811T145142Z
UID:10000138-1760785200-1760788800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Quentin Letts – Nunc
DESCRIPTION:Sunday Times bestselling author Quentin Letts pens a new novel: a modern twist on one of the greatest (yet underlooked) narratives in Christianity: The ‘Nunc Dimittis’\, based on ten verses in St Luke’s Gospel. This is the story of Simeon\, a man who was told he would not die before he saw the Messiah. He waited at the Temple in Jerusalem until he saw the infant Jesus. \n\n\n\nBut who was Simeon? Why did he wait? And how did the month-old Jesus escape King Herod’s infamous massacre of the infants? \n\n\n\nNunc! transports you to the Jerusalem of Herod the Great\, where Simeon’s old army friend Reuben runs a tea stall selling heavenly honey cakes and fig bread in Deuteronomy Square. When Bildad the beekeeper’s hive goes missing\, grocer’s boy Benjamin\, owner of a mule and cart that might be a getaway vehicle\, is a suspect. The drawlingly subversive Zillah\, whose political salon lends her influence\, and Simeon’s long-suffering landlady Noor intervene\, enduring a power-mad Roman centurion\, Lucilius\, and the snivelling authoritarian Kedar\, the city’s clerk of works. Quentin Letts brings first-century Jerusalem to life and helps an ailing 21st-century Englishman come to terms with his future. \n\n\n\nQUENTIN LETTS is political sketch writer for the Daily Mail. A regular broadcaster on radio and television\, he was formerly New York correspondent for The Times\, gossip columnist for the Daily Telegraph\, theatre critic for the Sunday Times and parliamentary sketch writer for The Times. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller 50 People Who Buggered Up Britain. His hobbies are gossip\, hymn-singing and cricket. He lives in rural Herefordshire. \n\n\n\nQuentin Letts will be in conversation with Lulu Taylor. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students) \n\n\n\nPlease note that there is an overlap between this event and the following one and you will not be able to attend both.
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/quentin-letts-nunc/
LOCATION:The Brownsword Hall\, Pummery Square\, Poundbury\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 3GW\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nunc-jacket.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T123000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T133000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250507T084207Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T151830Z
UID:10000137-1760790600-1760794200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Dr Julie Smith – Open When
DESCRIPTION:Million-copy bestselling psychologist Dr Julie Smith is back with the book for when being human starts to get complicated. When you feel overwhelmed\, pressure to perform\, are grieving\, are making big decisions\, when you get it wrong as a parent\, when you want to win the argument\, when you’re overthinking everything\, when you want to fit in\, and more. \n\n\n\nEach chapter begins with a letter from Dr Julie to the reader offering comfort and perspective and follows with her trademark simple and straightforward advice to help you see clearly how best to respond and act. \n\n\n\nDr Julie Smith is the nation’s favourite psychologist. An author\, online educator and Clinical Psychologist\, Julie has a combined following of almost nine million. She shot to fame with viral videos on social media\, and her drive to create accessible\, good quality mental health resources\, that were rooted in her decade of experience as a Clinical Psychologist led to her writing Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? A publishing phenomenon\, the book spent over 100 weeks in the UK Sunday Times bestseller charts with 23 of those at #1. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/dr-julie-smith-open-when/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Open-When-Jacket-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T153000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250507T084342Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T103631Z
UID:10000108-1760797800-1760801400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Max Hastings – Sword
DESCRIPTION:On 6 June 1944\, when the Allied armies landed on D-Day\, the Second World War had already lasted almost five years. Yet many of the British and American troops who invaded Normandy were virgin soldiers\, never before committed to battle. They quit summer England to face\, within hours\, a storm of machine-gun and mortar fire. They witnessed scenes\, above all of sudden death\, such as no exercise had prepared them for.    \n\n\n\nIn Sword\, veteran chronicler of war Max Hastings explores with extraordinary vividness the actions of the Commando brigade\, Montgomery’s 3rd Infantry and 6th Airborne divisions on and around a single British beach.  He describes their frustrations\, hopes\, loves and fears through the apparently interminable years training and preparing in England\, then their triumphs and tragedies on the beach and beyond. Here are the airborne assaults on the Caen Canal bridge and Merville Battery\, the battles on the shoreline and against the German strongpoints inland\, narrated and explained with all the insights that Hastings’ decades of study\, veterans’ interviews and new archive research enable him to deploy.   \n\n\n\nThe book offers a searching analysis of why British troops did not reach Caen on 6 June\, as Montgomery had promised Churchill that they would – and the story of the brigadier who was sacked for that failure. There is also a host of personal portraits of key figures from commando leader Lord Lovat\, famously brave but supremely arrogant\, to tank colonel Jim Eadie\, whose tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry repulsed a panzer division in the last hours of 6 June\, and some of the humbler participants to whom extraordinary things happened. This is D-Day as you have never read the story told before. \n\n\n\nMax Hastings is the author of more than thirty books\, many of them about 20th Century wars\, including All Hell Let Loose\, Catastrophe\, Vietnam and Abyss. In his early years as a correspondent\, he reported on eleven conflicts including Vietnam\, the 1973 Yom Kippur and 1982 Falklands wars for the BBC and various newspapers. A former editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph\, he has won many awards both for his journalism and books\, including Journalist of the Year\, Reporter of the Year\, Editor of the Year\, together with a Somerset Maugham Prize and two RUSI Westminster Medals. He contributes to The Times\, reviews books for the Sunday Times and writes a column for Bloomberg Inc. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/max-hastings-sword/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sword-cover_FINAL.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T163000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T173000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250507T135439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T103822Z
UID:10000109-1760805000-1760808600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Gordon Corera – The Spy in the Archive
DESCRIPTION:How do you steal a library? Not just any library but the most secret archive in the world. The answer is to be a librarian. To be so quiet\, that no-one knows what you are up to as you toil undercover over decades and so low key\, that even after your escape\, aided by MI6\, no-one even notices you are gone. \n\n\n\nThe Spy in the Archive is the remarkable story of how Vasili Mitrokhin – an introverted archivist who loved nothing more than dusty files – ended up changing the world. \n\n\n\nAs the in-house archivist for the KGB\, the secrets he was exposed to inside its walls turned him first into a dissident and then a spy\, a man determined to expose the truth about the dark forces that had subverted Russia\, forces still at work in the country today. \n\n\n\nThis is the story of one man’s journey from the heart of the Soviet state to disillusion and then betrayal and his determination to take on the most powerful institution in the world. \n\n\n\nGordon Corera is a journalist and writer on intelligence and security issues. Since 2004 he has been a Security Correspondent for BBC News where he covers terrorism\, cyber security\, the work of intelligence agencies and other national security issues for the BBC. He co-hosts The Rest is Classified podcast with former CIA analyst and spy novelist\, David McCloskey. \n\n\n\nGordon Corera will be in conversation with Kate Adie OBE. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/gordon-corera-the-spy-in-the-archive/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Spy-in-the-Archive-cover_-FINAL.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251018T193000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250507T135848Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T105023Z
UID:10000139-1760812200-1760815800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Daisy Goodwin – Diva
DESCRIPTION:In this remarkable novel\, best-selling author Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent\, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend. But it was only in confronting the heartbreak of losing the man she loved that Maria Callas found her true voice. \n\n\n\nIn the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera\, Maria Callas is known simply as La Divina: the divine one. With her glorious voice\, instinctive flair for the dramatic and striking beauty\, she’s the toast of the grandest opera houses in the world. Yet her fame has been hard won: raised in Nazi-occupied Greece by a mother who mercilessly exploited her\, Maria learned early in life how to protect herself. When she meets the fabulously rich shipping magnate\, Aristotle Onassis\, her isolation melts away. For the first time in her life\, she believes she’s found a man who sees Maria the woman rather than the legendary soprano. Desperately in love\, Callas follows Onassis into the world of International Café Society\, mixing with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor\, Richard Burton\, Princess Grace and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. And then\, suddenly\, it’s over. The international press announced that Onassis will marry the most famous woman in the world\, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy\, leaving Maria to pick up the pieces. \n\n\n\nDaisy Goodwin will discuss Maria Callas’s colourful life\, accompanied by live performances by Josephine Goddard\, a celebrated soprano\, and in conversation with Lulu Taylor. \n\n\n\nTickets £14.00 (£10.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/daisy-goodwin-diva/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diva_Daisy-Goodwin_PB.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251019T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251019T130000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250508T135903Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250904T151051Z
UID:10000110-1760871600-1760878800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Have They Come For Me? A guided walk tracing Law and Literature in Dorchester with Mark Damon Chutter
DESCRIPTION:Law and Literature in Dorchester: Meet at The Thomas Hardy Statue at the Top O’ Town \n\n\n\nJoin Mark Damon Chutter\, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society\, for a fascinating walk tracing the justice system in Dorchester\, and some of the literary narratives surrounding it. These will include:  \n\n\n\n*‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffreys\, who ordered the Monmouth Rebels’ execution during the Bloody Assizes and placed their heads on the spikes of St Peter’s Church. \n\n\n\n*The Dorset Tolpuddle Martyrs\, tried in the Shire Hall and sentenced for their religious beliefs at Galllows Hill ( Frink Statues). \n\n\n\n* Thomas Hardy’s novels\, including The Mayor of Casterbridge in which Henchard contravenes the moral code of the town and suffers from the lawlessness of the village of Durnover (Fordington); Mary Channing who it is suggested poisoned her husband in 1706 and was then burned at the stake in Maumbury Rings\, and Martha Brown\, the possible inspiration for the eponymous heroine Tess of the d’Urbervilles.  \n\n\n\nMeet at the Thomas Hardy Statue at the Top O’ Town at 11.00 \n\n\n\nAt 1.00 pm the walk will end at the historic Old Tea House\, formerly a prison and holding place\, where there will be an optional cream tea ( £10.00 per person. Please book tea directly with the Old Tea House on 01305 263719) \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/have-they-come-for-me-a-guided-walk-tracing-law-and-literature-in-dorchester-with-mark-damon-chutter/
LOCATION:Thomas Hardy Statue\, The Grove\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1UT
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Judge-Jeffreys.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T113000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250508T140115Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T162854Z
UID:10000140-1760956200-1760959800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Mark Urban – Tank
DESCRIPTION:“Tanks are like dinner jackets”\, an Australian general once commented – “you don’t need them very often\, but when you do\, nothing else will do.”An authoritative history of the tank and the remarkable individuals who designed them and fought in them\, from a former officer and best-selling historian.Tanks are the ultimate embodiment of industrial age warfare. In the popular imagination\, they represent both a terrifying beast of destruction and a potent symbol of liberation.The technology behind these war machines has evolved relentlessly\, and yet the coming of the information age has led many to predict that drones\, missiles\, and Artificial Intelligence have made the tank obsolete. Time and again\, however\, tanks have continued to shape – and be shaped by – battles around the world\, from their introduction in 1916\, through the Second World War and tank-on-tank fights in 1990s Iraq\, to the current conflict in Ukraine.In Tank\, best-selling historian and former officer in the Royal Tank Regiment\, Mark Urban draws on wide-ranging accounts from soldiers\, designers\, and politicians\, from Winston Churchill to Volodymyr Zelensky\, to tell the remarkable story of one of the most important developments in military history. Through the ten most important vehicles ever made\, Urban chronicles the incredible advances in tank technology – starting with the Mark IV\, the first British tank to be used in large numbers in WW1\, and following the story through the T-34 and Tiger to the M1 Abrams\, a product of huge American Cold War investment that is still used to this day.Officially supported by The Tank Museum and using never-before-seen archival sources\, interviews and declassified documents\, this is a fascinating history of the vehicle that changed conflict forever. \n\n\n\nMark Urban is a writer and columnist for the Sunday Times\, specialising in defence and foreign affairs. Until 2024\, he was the Diplomatic Editor of BBC’s Newsnight programme. He formerly served in the British Army\, both in the Royal Tank Regiment and in the Territorial Army. He is the author of several books\, including Red Devils\, Task Force Black (his deep-dive look at the SAS in the Iraq War\, which was a Sunday Times number one bestseller) and The Skripal Files\, a Sunday Times Best Politics Book of 2018. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/mark-urban-tank/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Tank.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T130000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250508T141122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250522T101433Z
UID:10000111-1760961600-1760965200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Barnaby Rogerson – The House Divided: Sunni\, Shia and the Making of the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:At the heart of the Middle East\, with its regional conflicts and proxy wars\, is a 1400-year-old schism between Sunni and Shia. To understand this divide and its modern resonances\, we need to revisit its origins: to become familiar with ‘The House’ of Prophet Muhammad\, the accidental coup after his death that set aside the claims of his son Ali\, and the slaughter of Ali’s son Husayn at Kerbala. These events\, known to every Muslim\, continue to influence Middle East politics. \n\n\n\nThe House Divided follows these narratives through the first caliphates and the medieval empires forged by Arabs\, Persians and Turks\, to the contemporary Middle East. It shows how a dynamic range of identities – fuelled as much by ethnic\, dynastic and national rivalries as by religious differences – have shaped the region. In 1979 this already complex world was jolted by the seismic shift of three revolutions – in Iran\, Mecca and Afghanistan – whose effects are still being played out. Rogerson’s original and intimate approach takes the modern chessboard of nation states and looks at each through its particular perspective: of empires and occupiers\, minorities and resources\, sheikhs and imams. The result is a book of wide-ranging empathy\, understanding and insights.Barnaby Rogerson has been travelling the Islamic world for the last forty years\, first as a young man writing guidebooks\, then as a journalist\, and finally as a writer of histories. He is publisher of the acclaimed travel list\, Eland Books. His books include The Prophet Muhammad: a Biography\,The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad and The Last Crusaders. \n\n\n\nBarnaby Rogerson will be in conversation with Allan Mallinson. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/barnaby-rogerson-the-house-divided-sunni-shia-and-the-making-of-the-middle-east/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/House-Divided-Jkt-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T150000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250508T141502Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T105304Z
UID:10000133-1760968800-1760972400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Geoffrey Guy – Quantum Biology
DESCRIPTION:Drawing on the latest international research\, leading physician and healthcare expert Professor Geoffrey Guy examines how quantum phenomena affect processes as diverse as the functioning of the brain and the body’s approach to combating inflammation and disease. He shows how we may need to rethink the ways in which energy and information are carried round our nervous system. \n\n\n\nThis groundbreaking book assesses the implications for cancer treatment and mental disorders and reopens discussion of areas such as light therapy. It also raises questions about the potentially damaging effects of space travel on astronauts’ health and how they might have to be mitigated.Key to the author’s approach is his ability to explain lucidly our current knowledge while drawing in cutting-edge research. Written for the general reader\, but with a scope and depth that will satisfy medical professionals\, Quantum Biology reveals the latest findings from this most fascinating medical frontier.Professor Geoffrey Guy has 40 years’ experience in medical research. As chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals plc\, he was physician in charge of over 300 clinical studies. The author of more than 70 scientific publications and of A Worthwhile Medicine\, he is Visiting Professor at the Universities of Buckingham and Westminster and chairman of The Guy Foundation. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/geoffrey-guy-quantum-biology/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/quantum-biology-jkt-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T170000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250508T141700Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250522T160631Z
UID:10000141-1760976000-1760979600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Meg Clothier – The Shipping Forecast
DESCRIPTION:There’s a sea lover in every Brit. The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4 has been keeping people up to date with the latest changes to British weather for a century – seafarers and armchair travellers alike. Since its first broadcast\, the programme has captured the hearts and imaginations of this island nation\, as well as providing a real and important service for those who might otherwise fall prey to storms and gales.The only official book celebrating the centenary\, The Shipping Forecast takes you to the heart of what this enduring programme means to the nation. Meg Clothier\, journalist and sailor\, brings you on a fascinating exploration of our British maritime history\, taking you from stormy weather up above to the seabed far below and from fishing boats to the art\, songs and poems inspired by the forecast. \n\n\n\nWhether you’re a long-time fan of this universally beloved British institution or a newer weather enthusiast\, this joyous book invites you to sail away into the enchanting world of the forecast and is the perfect companion for anyone curious about our great British skies and seas.Meg Clothier studied Classics at Cambridge\, sailed from England to Alaska\, and worked as a journalist in London and Moscow. She has published three historical novels and also Sea Fever: A Seaside Companion\, a book full of marine lore and seaside charm\, with her brother\, Chris. She lives on the sunny side of the Quantock Hills with her husband\, two children and an improbable amount of vegetables. \n\n\n\nMeg Clothier will be in conversation with Jenny Devitt. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/meg-clothier-the-shipping-forecast/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Shipping-Forecast-Cover-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251020T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250508T142215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250724T105416Z
UID:10000113-1760983200-1760986800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Natasha Solomons – Cleopatra
DESCRIPTION:From the international bestselling author\, an unmissable new retelling of the life of one of the most captivating and misrepresented female figures in history. A story of female power and vulnerability\, of love and loss\, fierce friendship and terrible betrayal. It’s time to meet the real Cleopatra.Cleopatra\, Egyptian Princess\, grows up the favoured daughter of the Pharoah\, hiding amongst the scrolls in the great library of Alexandria with her beloved slave Charmian\, longing for the chance one day to write her own story. Then\, when her father dies\, willing that Cleopatra rule with her selfish brother Ptolemy\, danger stirs. As the young Egyptian Queen sails the Nile to greet her people\, he plots todestroy her and take the throne for himself. But while Ptolemy has the power of Egypt behind him\, Cleopatra has her wits. And when the great Caesar arrives from Rome\, she realises he could be the key to her salvation – though courting this powerful man could cost her everything. Can Cleopatra save her life\, her throne\, her beloved Egypt and finally command her own history? \n\n\n\nNatasha Solomons is the author of seven internationally bestselling novels\, including Mr Rosenblum’s List\, The Novel in the Viola\, which was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club\, and I\, Mona Lisa. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages. She lives in Dorset with her family. \n\n\n\nNatasha Solomons will be in conversation with Lulu Taylor. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/natasha-solomons-cleopatra/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Cleopatra-Cover-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T113000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T084757Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250522T161300Z
UID:10000142-1761042600-1761046200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Terri Apter – Grandparenting: On Love and Relationships Across Generations
DESCRIPTION:One in three people over the age of 50 has grandchildren. These grandparents are the first generation to be both psychologically aware and very hands on\, playing an integral role in their grandchildren’s lives. When a child becomes a parent themselves\, existing family structures are radically altered. Old tensions between parents and their adult children may come into sharp relief while new relationships with in-laws must be navigated carefully. \n\n\n\nGrandparenting is the book for grandparenting in the modern age. In this warm\, wise guide to being a modern grandparent\, leading psychologist Terri Apter builds on cutting edge research as well as her own experience of being a grandparent. Drawing on case studies from across the world\, the personal stories of so many different individuals give a real insight into the many problems that can arise in families. With an increase in divorce and in different family configurations\, Apter’s book addresses many of the issues that can arise in more complicated family situations\, exploring the psychological forces that bring generations together and set barriers between them. This innovative book is for grandparents and their adult children to help them become the best grandparents and parents that they can be. \n\n\n\nTerri Apter is a psychologist\, writer and Fellow Emerita of Newnham College. She is the author of many critically acclaimed books on family dynamics\, including Altered Loves: Mothers and Daughters During Adolescence (a NYT Book of the Year)\, and The Confident Child (winner of the Delta Kappa Gamma International Educator’s Prize). Her reviews and articles have appeared in the Guardian\, TLS\, Financial Times\, New York Times Book Review\, and Psychologist and she is a regular blogger for Psychology Today. \n\n\n\nTerri Apter will be in conversation with Dr Helen Thomas. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/terri-apter-grandparenting-on-love-and-relationships-across-generations/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/grandparenting-jkt.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T130000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T085247Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T163559Z
UID:10000143-1761048000-1761051600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Simon Bradley – Bradley’s Railway Guide
DESCRIPTION:A Journey Through Two Centuries of British Railway History 1825–2025.In 1825 the Stockton & Darlington company strode into history with the opening of the world’s first public steam railway. What the S&DR had pioneered soon picked up speed\, transforming lives and landscapes\, connecting far-flung corners of the nation and creating its own distinctive environments and working worlds. \n\n\n\nThis ambitious and lavishly illustrated volume brings the story of Britain’s railways to life\, spanning two centuries of achievement and change. Full of colour and incident\, it is an exhilarating journey through time and space\, revisiting favourite themes and introducing unfamiliar stories and places. \n\n\n\nSimon Bradley is joint editor of the celebrated Pevsner Architectural Guides\, to which he has contributed a number of notable revised volumes. He started trainspotting aged eleven\, and his interest in railways has broadened and endured. He is also the bestselling author of The Railways: Nation\, Network and People and St Pancras Station. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/simon-bradley-bradleys-railway-guide/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/BRADLEYS-RAILWAY-GUIDE_FINAL-COVER-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T150000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T085539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T163826Z
UID:10000112-1761055200-1761058800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Minette Walters – The Players
DESCRIPTION:A bold and brilliantly inventive historical novel\, set in the reign of James II at a time of rebellion and unrest\, from a 25-million-copy bestselling author. \n\n\n\nEngland\, 1685. Decades after the end of the civil war\, the country is once again divided when Charles II’s illegitimate son\, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth\, arrives in Dorset to incite rebellion against his Catholic uncle.Armed only with pitchforks\, Monmouth’s army is quickly defeated by King James II’s superior forces and charged with high treason. Those found guilty will be hanged\, drawn and quartered.As Dorset braces for carnage\, the redoubtable Lady Jayne Harrier and a small group of trusted allies – including her courageous son and the independent-minded daughter of a local lawyer – contrive ways to save men from the gallows.Compelling and powerful\, The Players is a story of guile\, deceit and compassion during the dark days of The Bloody Assizes. Secrets are kept and surprising friendships formed in a dangerous gamble to thwart a brutal king’s thirst for vengeance… \n\n\n\nMinette Walters is one of the world’s bestselling crime writers and has sold over 25 million copies of her books worldwide. She has won the CWA John Creasey Award\, the Edgar Allan Poe Award in America and two CWA Gold Daggers. The Players is her fourth historical novel. She lives in Dorset with her husband. \n\n\n\nMinette Walters will be in conversation with Lulu Taylor. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/minette-walters-the-players/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Players-HB-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T170000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T085945Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250527T152055Z
UID:10000121-1761062400-1761066000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Peter Ross – Upon a White Horse
DESCRIPTION:Beautiful and strange\, ancient monuments have long captured our attention and curiosity. We stand in awe before them\, asking who created the Uffington White Horse – and why? What was it like to live in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall? What stories would the towering megaliths of Stonehenge and Avebury tell if they could speak? \n\n\n\nUncovering the enduring mystery of ancient sites\, award-winning writer Peter Ross once again invites readers to sit beside him as he celebrates their influence on art\, culture and society\, explores the way their meaning has evolved over time and simply delights in their magic. \n\n\n\nCombining historical research and archaeological insights with stories from people to whom these sites are particularly important\, Upon A White Horse journeys into the deep past of Britain and Ireland’s ancient landscapes. \n\n\n\nPeter Ross is an Orwell journalism fellow. His writing has appeared in national newspapers and magazines in the UK and US. He won the non-fiction prize at Scotland’s National Book Awards with A Tomb With A View: The Stories & Glories of Graveyards\, and his most recent book\, Steeple Chasing\, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was selected as Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month. He is also author of the collections Daunderlust and The Passion Of Harry Bingo. He lives in Glasgow. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/peter-ross-upon-a-white-horse/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Upon-a-White-Horse.-cover-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251021T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T090203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T112313Z
UID:10000129-1761069600-1761073200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Damien Lewis – SAS: The Great Train Raid
DESCRIPTION:So secret was this mission\, the SAS seizure of a train to raid deep into enemy territory to liberate a concentration camp\, that it wasn’t until 1968 – twenty-seven years after the formation of the SAS – that a short mention of it was made in the Rover and Wizard annual\, under the headline ‘Who Dares Wins’. No further published record exists. \n\n\n\nBest-selling author Damien Lewis has unearthed the full incredible story from long-hidden files and first hand-testimony\, his latest elite forces narrative delivering a scintillating tale of bravery\, daring and determination which simply beggars belief. This is the SAS at their very finest; there is no other mission like it from the Second World War.Damien Lewis is a number one bestselling author whose books have been translated into over forty languages worldwide. For decades he worked as a war and conflict reporter for the world’s major broadcasters\, reporting from across Africa\, South America\, the Middle and Far East and winning numerous awards. His books include the World War Two classics The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare\, SAS Nazi Hunters\, SAS Ghost Patrol\, SAS Band of Brothers and SAS Forged in Hell. A dozen of his books have been made\, or are being made\, into movies or TV drama series and several have been adapted as plays for the stage. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has recently been released as a Guy Ritchie movie of the same name. He has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charitable concerns connected with his writings. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/damien-lewis-sas-the-great-train-raid/
LOCATION:Dorset Museum\, High West Street\, Dorchester\, DT1 1XA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SAS_GreatTrain-jkt-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T113000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T140357Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250527T152337Z
UID:10000114-1761129000-1761132600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Monica Macias – Black Girl from Pyongyang
DESCRIPTION:In 1979\, aged only seven\, Monica Macias was sent from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea by her father\, the President of Equatorial Guinea\, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally\, Kim Il Sung. \n\n\n\nWithin months\, her father was executed in a military coup led by her cousin (the still reigning leader)\, while her mother became unreachable. Effectively orphaned\, she and two siblings had to make their lifein Pyongyang. At military boarding school\, Monica learned to mix with older children\, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons in training exercises. \n\n\n\nReaching adulthood\, she went in search of her roots. Spending time in Madrid\, Malabo\, New York\, Seoul and finally London\, at every step she had to reckon with others’ perceptions of her and her adoptive homeland. Optimistic yet unflinching\, Monica’s astonishing and unique story challenges us to see the world through different eyes. \n\n\n\nMonica Macias has lived in many countries around the world in search of her identity as a global citizen\, including: Equatorial Guinea\, Pyongyang\, Seoul\, Beijing\, Madrid\, New York City\, and now resides in south London. Black Girl from Pyongyang is her first book to be published in English\, and she will be the subject of a forthcoming documentary film. \n\n\n\nMonica Macias will be in conversation with Lulu Taylor. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/monica-macias-black-girl-from-pyongyang/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Black-Girl-From-Pyongyang-jkt.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T130000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T140923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250818T091639Z
UID:10000115-1761134400-1761138000@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Sonia Purnell – Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman’s astonishing life of seduction\, intrigue and power
DESCRIPTION:Born into an impoverished aristocratic family\, and raised on the family’s Minterne estate near Dorchester\, Pamela Churchill Harriman became Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law and trusted confidante\, and American ambassador to Paris under Bill Clinton\, one of the most influential women in twentieth century politics\, dismissed by many as the greatest courtesan of the age. Bestselling author Sonia Purnell reclaims Pamela’s legacy and inserts her back into her rightful place in history. Full of sex\, intrigue\, scandal\, glamour and some of the biggest names in the second half of the twentieth century (from Hitler to JFK to Prince Aly Khan\, Jackie Onassis and Elie de Rothschild)\, this is a brilliant record of the power that women could – and couldn’t – wield. Sonia Purnell is a biographer and journalist who has written for the Guardian\, the Daily Telegraph\, and the Sunday Times. Her biography of Virginia Hall\, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall\, WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy\, won the Plutarch Award for Best Biography and was a New York Times bestseller. Her book First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill was a book of the year in the Daily Telegraph\, the Independent and shortlisted for the Plutarch Award for Best Biography. Her first book\, Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition\, was longlisted for the Orwell prize. \n\n\n\nSonia Purnell will be in conversation with Allan Mallinson. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/sonia-purnell-kingmaker-pamela-churchill-harrimans-astonishing-life-of-seduction-intrigue-and-power/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kingmaker-PB.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T150000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T141110Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250818T094013Z
UID:10000116-1761141600-1761145200@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Adam Nicolson – Bird School
DESCRIPTION:Close to Adam Nicolson’s home in Sussex\, there is a forgotten field overrun by bracken and thicketed by brambles. It is the haunt of deer and many birds – nightingales\, the occasional cuckoo\, ravens\, robins\, owls and in summer the sweet-singing warblers that come north from Africa to breed in English woods. \n\n\n\nAdam Nicolson wanted to look and listen\, to return to ‘bird school’ and see what it might teach him. He built a small shed amongst the trees with nesting boxes and bird feeders. Cocooned inside\, season after season\, he got to know the birds: where they nest\, how they sing\, how they mate and fight\, what preys on them\, what they are like as living things. \n\n\n\nBeautifully written and woven through with philosophy\, literature\, science and a sense of wonder\, always conscious that that this is an age in which the natural world is under siege\, Bird School pulls back thecurtain on seemingly ordinary birds\, taking a long\, careful and concerned look at our relationship with the wild. \n\n\n\nADAM NICOLSON is the prize-winning author of many books on history\, landscape\, and great literature. He is the winner of the Somerset Maugham Award\, the W. H. Heinemann Award\, the Ondaatje Prize\, the Wainwright Prize for nature writing and the Richard Jefferies Award. His books include Life Between the Tides and The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters. He lives on a farm in Sussex. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students) \n\n\n\nAdam Nicolson will be in conversation with Mike McCarthy \n\n\n\nThis event is kindly sponsored by Lulworth Estate\, Dorset
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/adam-nicolson-bird-school/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Bird-School_jacket.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T170000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T143352Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250527T161108Z
UID:10000144-1761148800-1761152400@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Ray Mears – Outdoor Tracking Handbook
DESCRIPTION:Ray Mears has accumulated his tracking skills over 35 years of practice in the field\, all over the world\, and this book will be the first authoritative but accessible and practical manual. \n\n\n\nAn essential guide for enthusiasts who want to discover the outdoors in a new way\, and read the secret stories of animals and birds in the tracks they leave behind as well as a go-to reference for professionals\, from naturalists to police and military operatives\, the hand book is illustrated with clear instructions\, interlaced with Ray’s own inspiring first-hand experiences. \n\n\n\n In ITV’s landmark 2021 series Wild China\, Ray tracked the rare and elusive snow leopard\, enabling his film crew to capture in groundbreaking new footage. His work with the military and police\, meanwhile\, is often highly confidential. In this book\, he draws deeply from every avenue of an extraordinary life’s work\, and passes on his hard-earned expertise. \n\n\n\nRay Mears has become recognised throughout the world as an authority on the subject of bushcraft and survival. TV series including Ray Mears’ Bushcraft\, Ray Mears’ World of Survival\, Extreme Survival and Ray Mears goes Walkabout have made him a household name over the past two decades\, but he has spent his whole life learning these skills\, and founded Woodlore School of Wilderness Bushcraft over 35 years ago. He lives in Sussex with his family. \n\n\n\nRay Mears will be in conversation with Jenny Devitt. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/ray-mears-outdoor-tracking-handbook/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Outdoor-Tracking-Handbook.webp
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251022T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250509T141224Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T164547Z
UID:10000130-1761156000-1761159600@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:David Walsh and Pippa York – The Escape: The Tour\, The Cyclist and Me
DESCRIPTION:The first memoir from one of British cycling’s most enigmatic characters. \n\n\n\nIn the summer of 2020 sportswriter David Walsh asked Pippa York if she’d be his travelling companion for the Tour de France. The deal was that he would sort out the logistics beforehand\, the hotels\, the transport details and she would do the day-to-day tasks of getting them about and adding her insight occasionally. It would also mean she would return to the race she had ridden eleven times as Robert Millar. \n\n\n\nThis is the resulting book: a unique and entertaining sporting odyssey\, using the minutiae of Pippa and David’s trip\, and the iconic landmarks of the Tour de France\, to explore her early life growing up in working class Glasgow; her entry into racing; the psychological aspects of the sport and how that manifested itself in her personality; her ups and downs as a competitor; her post-career and her eventual transition from male to female in her 40s. \n\n\n\nTouching on doping\, gender in sport and the unique wonders and day-to-day challenges of the Tour\, The Escape is both an unforgettable travelogue through the world’s greatest cycling event and a one-of-a-kind memoir from arguably the sport’s most enigmatic and fascinating competitors. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/david-walsh-and-pippa-york-the-escape-the-tour-the-cyclist-and-me/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-Escape-jkt.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251023T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251023T120000
DTSTAMP:20260410T122739
CREATED:20250512T113044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T105059Z
UID:10000122-1761217200-1761220800@dorchesterliteraryfestival.com
SUMMARY:Christopher Somerville – Britain’s Best Walks
DESCRIPTION:Christopoher Somerville has covered the length and breadth of the UK on foot\, and has written and broadcast about its history\, landscape\, wildlife and people for over 25 years. In this extensive new volume\, he selects his top 200 routes from his hugely popular Times column\, A Good Walk. \n\n\n\nMore than just a basic guidebook\, this is a meditation on our relationship with the landscape and a celebration of all that Britain has to offer. From Cornwall to Shetland via Pembrokeshire and Barrowdale\, this is the most comprehensive collection of walks in the United Kingdom available in one book\, and features trails to suit all skill levels and references\, whether you want a gentle ramble to the pub or something much more challenging. \n\n\n\nFeaturing stunning photography and using Christopher’s trademark wit and lyricism\, this is the perfect book for ramblers anywhere. \n\n\n\nChristopher Somerville is a Times journalist with 25 years’ experience of writing and broadcasting about country walks (and tougher hikes). He is the author of Somerville’s 100 Best British Walks\, Where to See Wildlife in Britain and Ireland and Best Wild Places. \n\n\n\nTickets £12.00 (£8.00 Students)
URL:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/event/christopher-somerville-britains-best-walks/
LOCATION:The Dorford Centre\, 2 Bridport Road\, Dorchester\, Dorset\, DT1 1RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Adult
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dorchesterliteraryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Britains-best-walks-jacket.jpg
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