Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: A Tribute
Speakers: Simon Schama, Rowan Williams, Raphael Zarum, Jenni Frazer The death of Rabbi Lord Sacks left a huge void in the world of Jewish theological and philosophical writing and discourse. Jewish Book Week was honoured to have presented so many wonderful events with him, each of which showed the range of his humanity and knowledge; his contributions […]
A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion
Speakers: Helen Fry, Matthew Stadlen Helen Fry, in conversation with Matthew Stadlen. During WWII, Allied fighters trapped behind enemy lines were helped to escape by MI9. This branch of military intelligence, made up of secret agents and resistance fighters, established clandestine escape routes that criss-crossed Nazi-occupied Europe. Often at great risk to themselves and their […]
Dead Doubles
Speakers: Trevor Barnes, Christopher Andrew Marking the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the Portland Spy Ring – one of the most dangerous and remarkable KGB espionage rings ever to operate in the UK – and based on hitherto secret MI5 and FBI files, Dead Doubles is espionage historian Trevor Barnes’ explosive new book on […]
The Virus in the Age of Madness
Speakers: Bernard-Henri Lévy, Mark Lawson With medical mysteries, rising death tolls, and conspiracy theories beamed minute by minute through the vast web universe, the coronavirus pandemic has irrevocably altered societies around the world. World-renowned philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy interrogates the many meanings and metaphors we have assigned to the pandemic—and what they tell us about ourselves. […]
The Sanest Guy in the Room: Don Black & Michael Grade
Speakers: Don Black, Michael Grade Don Black is the songwriter’s songwriter, a composer’s dream collaborator, and the man behind some of the late twentieth century’s greatest musical numbers. Called ‘the Pelé of lyricists’ by Robbie Williams, Don’s stellar career has seen him win an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Tony and an Ivor Novello Award, […]
The Pandemic Century
Speakers: Mark Honigsbaum, Zoe Strimpel The last one hundred years, from the Spanish flu of 1918 to Covid-19, has been marked by a succession of unanticipated pandemic alarms. Author Mark Honigsbaum talks about scares, both infamous and less known, combining reportage with the history of science and medical sociology to artfully reconstruct epidemiological mysteries and […]
Clothes…and Other Things That Matter
Speakers: Alexandra Shulman, Matthew Stadlen ‘As I thought about what to do with the clothes, I became more interested in what the different items had meant to me. About why I had bought them. What I hoped I might feel wearing them. Why some things I had bought again and again. Why we wear the […]
The Volunteer
Speakers: Jack Fairweather, Helen Fry Combines the verve of a thriller with the detailed evidence of the sober, hideous truth.’ – The Telegraph In the summer of 1940, after the Nazi occupation of Poland, an underground operative called Witold Pilecki accepted a mission to uncover the fate of thousands of people being interred at a […]
Has Labour Really Changed? The Future of the Labour Party
Speakers: Sarah Baxter, David Kogan, David Triesman In the midst of a global pandemic, the Labour party has a new leader, a new shadow cabinet and a new general secretary. The replacement of Jeremy Corbyn by Keir Starmer is regarded as a new dawn for the party. But how real is this? How can Labour […]
Who Wants to be a Jewish Writer?
Poet, leading literary critic and Columbia University teacher Adam Kirsch is one of our foremost experts on Jewish thought and history. His stunning new collection brings together his essays on poetry, religion, and the intersections between them, as he explores the definition of Jewish literature and the relationship between poetry and politics, asking questions such […]
To Kill A Man
Speakers: Jonathan Freedland, Marina Vaizey The latest thriller from smash-hit author Sam Bourne, To Kill a Man is packed with “plot twists and insights into political campaigning, the Me Too movement and the darker side of the internet” [The Times]. Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He has […]
House of Glass: Hadley Freeman in conversation with Lisa Appignanesi
Speakers: Hadley Freeman, Lisa Appignanesi In this online event in conversation with Lisa Appignanesi, Hadley Freeman talks about her exquisite and moving memoir, House of Glass, an exploration of assimilation, identity and home. After her grandmother died, Hadley travelled to her apartment to try and make sense of a woman she’d never really known. Sala […]