In association with
F R I D AY 2 3 N O V E M B E R
SHIRLEY WILLIAMS Coffee Morning Talk
R I C H A R D VA N EMDEN
PETER MOORE Endeavour
10.30AM
2.30PM
4.30PM
Baroness Shirley Williams follows the footsteps taken by her mother Vera Brittain in her memoir Testament of Youth to the graveside of her uncle Edward Brittain in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Through letters sent between Edward and Vera, and a journey to the trenches of Northern Italy, Shirley Williams looks back at the forgotten Asiago campaign on the Italian Front at the very end of World War I and the tragic circumstances leading to Edward Brittain’s death 100 years ago. Presented by the Friends of Buxton Festival
1918: The Final Year of the Great War to Armistice In the centenary of the Armistice, bestselling First World War historian Richard van Emden tells the story of 1918, of both the ferocious spring offensive that so nearly brought victory for the Germans in the West, and the tenacious British rearguard fight that thwarted them. From diaries, memoirs and original, illegally-taken photographs, he also tells the vivid story of the Allied breakthrough and the return to open warfare that was to bring victory in November 1918.
The ship and the attitude that changed the world Historian Peter Moore presents an inventive biography of one of the most famous ships of all time – from the oak tree from which it was made to its last voyage in the American War of Independence. A commonplace, coalcarrying vessel, no one could have guessed that Endeavour would go on to become the most significant ship in the history of British exploration.
S AT U R D AY 2 4 N O V E M B E R
ALAN JOHNSON In My Life
SARAH WARD & K AT E G R I F F I N
K AT E H U B B A R D Devices and Desires
7.30PM
12.30PM
2.30PM
A politician’s personal playlist From postman to politician to award-winning author, Alan Johnson’s life has been to the soundtrack of his beloved popular music – from Dylan to Bowie, from Lonnie Donegan to Bruce Springsteen, and The Beatles, whom he has worshipped since 1963. Alan vividly transports us to a world of Dansettes and jukeboxes, of heartfelt love songs and heart-broken ballads, of smoky coffee shops and dingy dance halls.
Women getting away with murder Agatha Christie, PD James, Ruth Rendell … the list goes on. Throughout the history of crime fiction, women have proved uniquely equipped to craft a clever murder plot and set up the clues to an exciting and satisfying thriller. Now two leading exponents of the crime novel – Sarah Ward (the DC Connie Childs mysteries) and Kate Griffin (the Kitty Peck mysteries) dissect their chosen genre and discuss whether there is anything special a woman brings to the world of crime.
Bess of Hardwick and the building of Elizabethan England Through canny choices, four husbands and a will of steel, Bess of Hardwick – businesswoman, moneylender and property tycoon – rose from country squire’s daughter to one of the richest and most powerful women in England, her wealth taking concrete form in her passion for building and the construction of her four country houses: Chatsworth, Hardwick Old Hall, Hardwick New Hall and Owlcotes.
S AT U R D AY 2 4 N O V E M B E R
ADRIAN TINNISWOOD Behind the Throne: A domestic history of the Royal household
NICK HEWER My Alphabet: A Life from A to Z
4.30PM
7.30PM
Smoothing the sovereign’s path Adrian Tinniswood uncovers five centuries of life at the English court, exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers, clowns and crowned heads: the power struggles and petty rivalries, the tension between duty and desire; the practicalities of cooking dinner for thousands, or ensuring the king always won when he played a game of tennis.
The star of Countdown and The Apprentice takes a journey from A to Z of his life. As one of Lord Sugar’s closest advisers, Nick Hewer came late to wider public attention, when his wry sense of humour and astute insights into the foibles and failings of The Apprentice contestants won him a cult following. Now the host of the massively popular Countdown, Nick is equally at home on Question Time or Have I Got News For You, in the boardroom or chatting to a Mongolian policeman.
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BOOKING W W W. B U X T O N F E S T I VA L . C O . U K T: 0 1 2 9 8 7 2 1 9 0
VENUE PAV I L I O N A R T S CENTRE 22 ST JOHNS RD BUXTON SK17 6XN * When booked at the same time. Offer does not include Shirley Williams coffee morning talk Cover image from In My Life by Alan Johnson