Speakers: Maureen Lipman, A.N. Wilson, Nicolette Jones, Malcolm Rifkind, Mark Lawson

1952 saw the Queen ascend to the throne, The Mousetrap open in the West End and the first Jewish Book Week; all going strong 70 years on while thankfully London’s other big event, the Great Smog is not. Further afield, Albert Einstein declined the offer to succeed Chaim Weizmann as the second president of four-year-old Israel, the first European Parliament was established, McCarthyism stepped up in the US and after Operation Hurricane off the north-west coast of Australia, Britain became the third global nuclear power. In the world of words, the year saw Anne Frank’s diaries translated into English for the first time, the launch of Mad and NME, and books published include Charlotte’s Web, East of Eden, The Borrowers and major works by Isaac Asimov, Vasily Grossman, Barbara Pym and Arthur Koestler. Mark Lawson is joined by actress & writer Maureen Lipman, former Defence & Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, Sunday Times children’s books editor Nicolette Jones and author A.N. Wilson.