The Great Houdini: The World’s Most Amazing Escape Artist
Speakers: Kjartan Poskitt Harry Houdini thrilled the world with his death-defying stunts and awesome showmanship, but did you know he was actually called Ehrich? Join Murderous Maths author Kjartan Poskitt to find out how he was inspired by a man with no head, why he kept asking to be put in jail (and how he […]
The Missing: Michael Rosen
Speakers: Michael Rosen, Nicolette Jones By turns charming, shocking and heart-breaking, this is the true story of Michael Rosen’s search for his relatives who “went missing” during the Second World War – told through prose and poetry. When Michael was growing up, stories often hung in the air about his great-uncles: one was a clock-mender […]
Believe It or Snot: The Definitive Field Guide to Earth’s Slimy Creatures
Speakers: Dani Rabaiotti What is hyena butter, and would you want to put it on toast? How much slime can a hagfish produce in 60 seconds? Which animal produces a snotty sleeping bag? How does a bubble snail use mucus to get around? Which organism is the slime champion? Zoologist Dani Rabaiotti guides us in […]
Brain Fizzing Facts: Awesome Science Questions Answered
Speakers: Dr Emily Grossman Why is your elbow called your funny bone? How could you escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaw? Which animal can breathe through its bottom? And how do these things all link together?! Science expert and STEM Ambassador Dr Emily Grossman uncovers the answers to these and many of the weirdest, […]
The Cut Out Girl
Bart van Es’s The Cut Out Girl, described by Philippe Sands as ‘luminous, elegant, haunting’, tells the true story of the author’s grandparents, and the young girl they fostered to hide her from the Nazis in occupied Holland. It is the winner of the 2018 Costa Book of the Year, and we are delighted to […]
A Weekend in New York
Speakers: Benjamin Markovits, Alex Clark Paul Essinger, a tennis professional in his 30s, is about to play his final US Open. The bookies give him 1,200-1 odds on winning the title. Anxiety-ridden, comically unaware and boiling with tension, each member of the Essinger family — Paul included — is painfully trying to unpick an idea of […]
Jewish Voices 2019
The grand finale of Jewish Book Week 2019, in partnership with World Jewish Relief, is a celebration of the power of words. A stellar line-up, featuring Henry Goodman, Nicholas Hytner, Jason Isaacs, Brian Leveson, Emily Maitlis, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jay Rayner, Philippe Sands, Janet Suzman and Zoe Wanamaker, will read poems, letters and speeches, stretching […]
Ben Hecht: The Greatest American Screenwriter
Ben Hecht was, according to Jean-Luc Godard, ‘a genius’ who ‘invented 80% of what is used in Hollywood movies today’. Besides producing dozens of now classic scripts — including Wuthering Heights, Gone With the Wind (for which he was never credited) and Notorious — Ben Hecht was also known as an ace reporter, celebrated playwright, taboo-busting novelist, […]
Tom Bower on Jeremy Corbyn
Speakers: Tom Bower, Mark Lawson Acclaimed investigative journalist and bestselling biographer Tom Bower, author of 24 books including the lives of Robert Maxwell, Richard Branson, Tony Blair and Prince Charles, has penetrated the shadows and myths about Jeremy Corbyn and discusses his biography with Mark Lawson.
To Kill The Truth
Speakers: Jonathan Freedland, Matthew d’Ancona Acclaimed journalist Jonathan Freedland presents a gripping new thriller, the latest from his blockbuster novelist alter ego Sam Bourne. Somebody is murdering the world’s last remaining Holocaust survivors; libraries are burnt to the ground and important digital archives are wiped. Somebody is setting out to erase the past, even to destroy […]
The Book Smugglers
Speakers: David Fishman, James Libson In a history book that reads like a thriller, The Book Smugglers charts the incredible story of the ghetto inmates who rescued thousands of rare books and manuscripts — first from the Nazis and then from the Soviets — by hiding them on their bodies, burying them in bunkers, and smuggling […]
Saul Bellow: A Legacy
Speakers: David Herman, Zachary Leader Zachary Leader presents the second volume of The Life of Saul Bellow. Arguably the greatest of American writers, Bellow’s enduring appeal perhaps lies in his ‘gift for reading reality’. Leader’s exhilarating biography focuses not only on the unsurpassable writing, but on the tangled and numerous love affairs, the five wives, […]