WIMPOLE

HISTORY
FESTIVAL
22–24 June A weekend of
2018 history and
Highlights include
Chris Andrew
heritage for
Philip Ardagh the whole
Tracy Borman
Helen Castor
family
Gordon Corera
Christopher de Hamel
Frances Hardinge
Dan Jones
Bridget Kendall
Kate Mosse
Jenni Murray
Francesca Simon
CATERINA TURRONI

ANDREW YARME

Charles Spencer Mary Beard David Olusoga Alice Roberts

Brought to you by
 Welcome to Wimpole History Festival

Rathbones is delighted
to support Wimpole
History Festival
Wimpole History Festival is back for a second glorious Festival Team
weekend. Set in the National Trust’s Wimpole Estate with its
Cambridge Literary Festival
At Rathbones we’ve been building country mansion and rolling parkland, this is the perfect
Director
successful relationships and providing backdrop to hear from some of Britain’s most eminent
Cathy Moore
historians.
high-quality discretionary investment Associate Director
management services to individuals, Our feast of history and heritage for the whole family Sue Richards
charities and advisers for generations. includes talks, debates, book signings and performances, as Manager
well as rich, interactive living history through the ages, Katie Edwards
historical walking tours, workshops, activities and events for Intern
young history-lovers. We will be marking the centenaries of Mo Soper
For further information, please
the birth of the RAF, the end of World War One and female Communications
contact 01223 229 229 or email suffrage; we’ll hear from a roll-call of historians who will Nikki Mander, Mander Barrow PR
simon.whitmore@rathbones.com help us to re-trace and piece together our shared histories, Wimpole Estate
which link nations and help explain where we are now; and Events Officer
we will look, through the lens of history, at some of the most Anne French
pressing issues of today including Brexit, Trump’s America Visitor Experience Manager
and Putin’s Russia. Rebecca Evans
With so much to do and see, and fabulous food and drink, why Marketing & Communications
not make a weekend of it, and take advantage of our rich Manager
historical offer which includes falconry, sword school for Catherine Hayburn
budding young knights, archery for the young and young at General Manager
heart, Battle of Britain memorial fly-pasts, a scything David Hassall
festival, a Ceilidh and early morning yoga, plus guided tours of Regional Director
the hall, gardens and farm. Paul Forecast
Assistant Operations Director
Join us and escape for the weekend – we look forward to
(Essex, Beds, Herts & Cambs)
seeing you there. Natasha Woollard
rathbones.com Cathy Moore
Festival Director Honorary Patrons
Mary Beard
The value of investments and income arising from them may fall as well as rise and you Sarah Dunant
might get back less than you originally invested. Orlando Figes
The Wimpole History Festival is part of Cambridge Literary Festival, a charity Bridget Kendall
Rathbone Investment Management is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by registered in England and Wales, no. 1153944.
the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Andrew Marr
Board Members Denise Augar |Julia Collins | Richard Collins | Karen Duffy
Ángel Gurría-Quintana | Jeremy Newsum | Sian Reid | Andrea Reiner
Clare Mulley
John Stanton | Peter Taylor David Reynolds
Company Secretary Jane Dix Fiona Reynolds

2 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 3

Events at a glance Festival highlights

Event Times Venue Page

20 10 7

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Children’s Programme events
Friday 22 June
Christopher de Hamel 3-4pm East Lawn Marquee 6
Ulinka Rublack & Malcolm Gaskill 3-4pm Rathbones Marquee 6
Patrick Bishop – 100 Years of the RAF 4.30-5.30pm East Lawn Marquee 6
Piers Brendon & Lizzie Collingham 4.30-5.30pm Rathbones Marquee 7
Alice Roberts – The Celts 6-7pm East Lawn Marquee 7

© CristianGibbons
© RUTH CRAFER
Miranda Kaufmann & Danell Jones 6-7pm Rathbones Marquee 8
Austentatious 8-9pm East Lawn Marquee 8
Saturday 23 June
Morning Yoga 9am Front Lawn 11
Archery Various times The Paddocks 10
Kate Mosse Living History Alice Roberts
Sword School Various times The Paddocks 27
Fens Falconry Experience Various times The Paddocks 27

19 27 15

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Christopher Andrew – History of Intelligence 10.30-11.30am East Lawn Marquee 12
Kate Pankhurst 10.30-11.30am Rathbones Marquee 25
The Royal Image 10.30-11.30am Grand Dining Room 12
James Rothwell – Silver 12-1pm Grand Dining Room 12
The Cold War Roots of Putin's Russia 12-1pm East Lawn Marquee 13
Mad Science – A History of Science Show 12-1pm Rathbones Marquee 25
Helen Castor – Elizabeth I 1.30-2.30pm East Lawn Marquee 13
Frances Hardinge – A Skinful of Shadows 1.30-2.30pm Rathbones Marquee 25
Ancient Trees of the National Trust 1.30-2.30pm Grand Dining Room 13
Peter Snow & Ann MacMillan – War Stories 3-4pm East Lawn Marquee 14
Daniel Beer – The House of the Dead 3-4pm Rathbones Marquee 14
Emile de Bruijn – Chinese Wallpaper 3-4pm Grand Dining Room 14
Women and Power Panel 4.30-5.30pm East Lawn Marquee 15 Dan Jones Sword School Gordon Corera
Gordon Corera – Secret Pigeon Service 4.30-5.30pm Rathbones Marquee 15
Patricia Ferguson 4.30-5.30pm Grand Dining Room 16

21 17&23 32

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Tracy Borman – The King’s Witch 6-7pm East Lawn Marquee 16
Thomas Williams – The Vikings 6-7pm Rathbones Marquee 16
David Olusoga 7.30-8.30pm East Lawn Marquee 17
Sarah Dunant – When Greeks Flew Kites 7.30-8.45pm Rathbones Marquee 17
The Boxwood Chessman – Ceilidh 8pm Great Barn 17
Sunday 24 June
Morning Yoga 9am Front Lawn 11
Archery Various times The Paddocks 10

© LES WILSON
Sword School Various times The Paddocks 27
Fens Falconry Experience Various times The Paddocks 27
Sarah Churchwell 10.30-11.30am East Lawn Marquee 19
Philip Ardagh – Tudor Spy Boy 10.30-11.30am Rathbones Marquee 26
Mark Purcell – The Country House Library 10.30-11.30am Grand Dining Room 19 Jenni Murray David Olusoga Food and Drink
Dan Jones – The Templars 12-1pm East Lawn Marquee 19
Francesca Simon – Hack and Whack 12-1pm Rathbones Marquee 26

26 15&19 10
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Nino Strachey – Rooms of Their Own 12-1pm Grand Dining Room 20
Kate Mosse – The Burning Chambers 1.30-2.30pm East Lawn Marquee 20
Diane Atkinson – Vote 100 1.30-2.30pm Rathbones Marquee 20
Oonagh Kennedy – Nancy Astor off the Pedestal 1.30-2.30pm Grand Dining Room 21
Jenni Murray – A History of Britain in 21 Women 3-4pm East Lawn Marquee 21
Kevin Crossley Holland & Francesca Simon 3-4pm Rathbones Marquee 26
Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski – John Soane 3-4pm Grand Dining Room 21
Christopher Lloyd 4.30-5.30pm East Lawn Marquee 27
Peter Hart – 1918: The Last Battle 4.30-5.30pm Rathbones Marquee 22
Joe Hufton – Making Theatre in Unusual Places 4.30-5.30pm Grand Dining Room 22
Charles Spencer 6-7pm East Lawn Marquee 22
Britain and the World Post-Brexit 6-7pm Rathbones Marquee 23
Mary Beard & David Olusoga – Civilisations 7.30-8.30pm East Lawn Marquee 23 Philip Ardagh Sarah Churchwell Archery

4 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 5

Friday 22 June – Talks, debates and performances
Christopher de Hamel
Illuminating the Past
3-4pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Joining us to present his wonderful book Meetings with
Remarkable Manuscripts, Christopher de Hamel introduces us to
some of the greatest works of art in our culture, demonstrating
why medieval manuscripts matter and what they show us about
the world we live in. Encounter kings, queens, saints, scribes,
artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, collectors and the
international community of manuscript scholars, as de Hamel
shows us how he and his fellows piece together evidence – in
detective-story fashion – to reach unexpected conclusions.
Malcolm Gaskill & Ulinka Rublack
The Witch-Craze
3-4pm | Rathbones Marquee | £10/£8
Why did people in the Western world persecute witches,
and were they mostly women? Malcolm Gaskill, author of
Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy,
and Ulinka Rublack, author of The Astronomer and the
Witch, discuss the prosecution of witches in England and
illuminate one of the most tragic and misunderstood
episodes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the
‘witch-craze’.
Chaired by Harriet Lyon, A.H. Lloyd Junior Research
Fellow, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge
© LORIAN REED-DRAKE
Patrick Bishop
100 Years of the RAF
4.30-5.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £11/£9
To mark the RAF centenary this year, acclaimed RAF historian
Patrick Bishop, author of Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys,
examines the men, the spirit and the distinctive ethos of the
Royal Air Force. As well as discussing the RAF’s ‘finest hour’
during the Second World War, this event looks at the intensely-
lived human dramas, romances and friendships that helped form
the force behind the combat. Bishop will be in conversation with
festival patron Clare Mulley, author of The Women Who Flew for
Hitler.
6 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851
Friday 22 June – Talks, debates and performances
Piers Brendon & Lizzie Collingham
The Days of Empire
4.30–5.30pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
The sun never set upon the British Empire, its critics liked to say,
because God didn’t trust the British in the dark. The devious Brits
ruled over an area that spanned, at its peak, about a quarter of
the earth’s surface. Virtually every meal we eat today still
contains a taste of empire – yet the bad odours of racism,
colonialism and day-to-day violence also linger. Cambridge
historians Piers Brendon and Lizzie Collingham probe the events
in the Empire’s rise and fall, and examine its legacy, both good
and bad.
Chaired by Sarah Stockwell, Professor in Imperial and
Commonwealth History, King’s College London
Alice Roberts The Celts
6-7pm | East Lawn Marquee | £15/12
Author, broadcaster and anthropologist Alice Roberts sets sail on an adventure that takes us right
across Europe, from its wild, western Atlantic coasts to its eastern edge and beyond. It’s also a
journey deep into the past, into mysterious prehistory, as she goes in search of the Iron Age
ancestors we call the Celts – their lives, their art, their technology, their knowledge and beliefs.
She explores a world where battles were fought with the mighty Mediterranean empires of
Greece and Rome, where warriors were worshipped as gods, and where princes and princesses
were buried with dazzling gold treasure. These ancestors may have lived over two millennia ago,
but they still help us to construct our identities today.
With thanks to
wimpolehistoryfestival.com 7
Friday 22 June – Talks, debates and performances

Miranda Kaufmann & Danell Jones

Racial Attitudes in British History
6-7pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
An enthralling investigation into racial attitudes in British
history. Miranda Kaufmann’s Black Tudors uncovers the daily
lives of ten free Africans in Renaissance England,
fundamentally challenging preconceptions of Tudor and
Jacobean attitudes to race. Danell Jones, meanwhile,
shows us the streets of Edwardian London through the eyes
of one remarkably resilient writer who wanted to change
the way the world thought about Africans – and the many
prejudices and setbacks he encountered in doing so. What
changed in the intervening four centuries, and why? Grab
your tickets to find out.
Chaired by Malcolm Gaskill, historian, author and Professor
of Early Modern History, University of East Anglia

Austentatious
8-9pm | East Lawn Marquee | £15/£12
Back by popular demand! Consistently selling out their shows since 2012, an all-star cast
create a fresh and riotously funny literary masterpiece every night, based solely on an
audience suggestion. Performed in full Regency costume, with live musical accompaniment,
Austentatious’s past works have included We Need to Talk About Emma, Bath to the Future,
Strictly Come Darcy and Mansfield Shark. See them at Wimpole before anyone else as they
kick off their 2018 UK tour.
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Austenatious is one of the smartest and
funniest improv shows out there’ – Time Out

With thanks to

8 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851

Attractions and things to do on Saturday and Sunday Friday 7 July

Battle of Britain
Memorial Flypasts
Free
Aviation enthusiasts rejoice!
Over the weekend we will be
treated to two Battle of Britain
Memorial flypasts – a Dakota on
Saturday and a Dakota and a
Spitfire on Sunday.

Living History
Display Field | Free
Scything Festival
History comes to life at Wimpole with over 100 re-enactors from all ages and eras. Visit the
Display Field to see, smell, touch and learn about the past with hands-on history demonstrations Folly Field | Free
and workshops including a Roman kitchen and Viking camp, twelfth century crusaders and Tudor The Scything Festival is a fun and
armourer demonstrations, medieval woodwork demonstrations, Redcoats and Revolutionaries, sociable weekend with several
World War One and World War Two soldiers plus much more… competitions and a course to teach the
art of scything and mowing including an
introduction to hay making and
Archery traditional meadow management on
The Paddocks | £7 | Ages 5+ one of the best wildflower

For those who fancy themselves sharp

shooters, put it to the test at archery.
Learn how to shoot a bow and arrow like
a medieval fighter, as well as the history
behind this weapon at our archery site.
Tickets can be bought at the archery
site, cash only.
Guided Tours
Free | All ages
New guided tours of the Farm and Walled
Garden, specially created for the Wimpole
History Festival and focussing on newly
researched areas of Wimpole’s history. There
will also be historically-themed guided walks in
the parkland. Plus a John Soane inspired walk.
Various times throughout the weekend
meadows on the estate.
To find out more or book a place please
visit: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
wimpole-estate
Morning Yoga (weather permitting)
9am | Front Lawn | £10
They say you should begin the day as you
mean to go on, so come join us for some
soulful yoga at 9am. Greet the morning sun
with your best warrior pose on the beautiful
lawns beside Wimpole Hall.
To book email:
michelle.veenman@googlemail.com
Craft stalls – Church Field
Gemmeus Historic Jewellery
Dominic Jones Blacksmith
Helen Rose Glass
Linda Adkins Leatherwork
Milly B, spinning, weaving and felting
Louise Peterssen Ceramics

10 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 11

 Saturday 23 June – Talks, debates and performances
Christopher Andrew
History of Intelligence
10.30–11.30am | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Hidden stories and startling facts from the world’s best-informed
analyst of spying. Historian and broadcaster Christopher Andrew,
Chair of the British Intelligence Study Group and official historian
of MI5, charts the development of espionage and security from a
first appearance in the Book of Exodus to sophisticated twenty-
first-century deployments, via Renaissance Venice, revolutionary
© JUSTINE STODDART
America, and surprising advances in China and India (amongst
others), to reveal how intelligence operations have shaped the
course of history.
In conversation with Sir Richard Dearlove, former Head of the
British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
Tanya Cooper & Louise Stewart
The Royal Image
10.30–11.30am | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
A quick flick through the pages of any tabloid newspaper
confirms the enduring obsession of the British public with
images of the monarchy. The Royal Image from the Tudors
to the Windsors offers a definitive guide to the depiction of
British royalty through the collection of the National Portrait
Gallery. Its authors Tanya Cooper and Louise Stewart will
discuss the power of portraiture, from its beginnings under
the Tudors to its proliferation amongst the Windsors.
James Rothwell
Silver
12-1pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
International politics in the eighteenth century were played out
at the dining table as much as on the battlefield. James
Rothwell, the National Trust’s adviser on silver and author of
Silver for Entertaining: The Ickworth Collection, explores the vast
and lavishly ornamented silver collection at Ickworth in Suffolk,
which played a critical role in the diplomatic armoury of Britain’s
most senior ambassador during the Seven Years War.
12 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851
Saturday 23 June – Talks, debates and performances
Bridget Kendall & Peter Pomerantsev
The Cold War Roots of Putin’s Russia
12-1pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Want to get behind the spies and the nerve agents? Looking
for some historical perspective on Vladimir Putin? Join
Bridget Kendall, former BBC correspondent in Moscow and
author of The Cold War: An Oral History, as she talks with
Peter Pomerantsev, whose Nothing Is True and Everything
Is Possible blew the lid off Putin’s Russia. Unmissable.
Chaired by David Reynolds, festival patron and Professor of
International History, University of Cambridge
Helen Castor
Elizabeth I
1.30-2.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Historian Helen Castor, presenter of the BBC series She-Wolves
and author of the book that inspired it, delves into the events that
made a monarch. Behind her impenetrable façade, Elizabeth I
was shaped by a profound and enduring insecurity. Castor’s pithy
and illuminating account shows how unstable political reality
and precarious personal psychology intertwined to produce the
Virgin Queen whose astounding Golden Age still resonates so
strongly in the popular imagination.
Edward Parker
Ancient Trees of the National Trust
1:30-2:30pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
The National Trust is Europe’s largest private custodian of
ancient trees. Edward Parker examines their fascinating history,
cultural associations and ecological importance. Beginning with
what is considered to be the oldest tree on the National Trust
Estate, the Ankerwycke Yew (under which the Magna Carta was
is believed to have been sealed), and concluding with Newton’s
apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor, Parker takes us on a whistle-
stop tour of many of our ancient trees.
After this event, grab your boots and join in an ancient tree walk
led by the author. Meet in the turning circle at 3.30pm.
wimpolehistoryfestival.com 13
Saturday 23 June – Talks, debates and performances Saturday 23 June – Talks, debates and performances

Peter Snow & Ann MacMillan

War Stories
3-4pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Wartime makes heroes – and villains – out of ordinary men and
women, yet many of their astonishing stories are never told.
Broadcasters (and husband and wife) Peter Snow and Ann
MacMillan present a fascinating account of spies, escapes and
uplifting acts of humanity spanning nearly three centuries. From

© CHRIS GIBBIONS
John Bulkeley’s terrifying 1741 journey along the coast of Chile
to Ahmed Terkawi’s heart-stopping 2016 escape from Syria, via
Second World War spy Krystyna Skarbek and many more, War
Stories tells vivid tales of love, bravery, suffering and terror.
Sarah Churchwell Helen Castor Sarah Dunant
Chaired by Clare Mulley, festival patron and author of The
Women Who Flew for Hitler Sarah Churchwell, Helen Castor & Sarah Dunant
Women and Power
Daniel Beer 4.30-5.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile How have women shaped the course of history? From great queens such as Elizabeth I to the
Under the Tsars ordinary people who step into extraordinary roles, the exercise of power by women has taken
many different forms over the centuries, not all of them equally celebrated and recognised.
3-4pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
Marking the centenary year of the first women to receive the vote in Britain, Sarah Churchwell,
Winner of the prestigious Cundill History Prize, Daniel Beer Helen Castor and Sarah Dunant will discuss the influence of women through the centuries,
presents the compelling story of a failed social experiment, and considering their significant yet often overlooked impact in the forging of the modern world.
the tragic and inspiring fates of those who endured it. From the
Chaired by Anna Whitelock, historian, broadcaster and author of Elizabeth’s Bedfellows
beginning of the nineteenth century until the Russian Revolution,
the Tsars exiled more than a million prisoners and their families
east to ‘the vast prison without a roof’ in Siberia. The House of the With thanks to
Dead illuminates the brutal realities of this inhuman system, and
examines its decisive influence on the political forces of the
modern world.
Gordon Corera
Chaired by Bridget Kendall, festival patron, former BBC Moscow
correspondent and Master of Peterhouse.
Secret Pigeon Service
4.30-5.30pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
‘Masterful, gripping and deeply researched’ – BBC History
Everyone’s heard of MI5 and MI6 – but how about MI14(d)?
The little-known department’s Operation Columba dropped
Emile de Bruijn 16,000 pigeons across Europe to source intelligence from
Chinese Wallpaper ordinary people living under Nazi occupation. Gordon Corera
brings to life the authentic voices from rural France, Holland
3-4pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
and Belgium that were responsible for the rich seam of
Was the exotic solely the province of women in British history? information – sometimes comic, often tragic, occasionally
Chinese culture was widely admired by seventeenth-century invaluable – conveyed across the Channel on many tiny pieces
Europeans for its beauty and utility. Yet in the years that of rice paper. Come for the pigeons, stay for the remarkable
followed, its primary showcase contracted to the sphere of stories of Belgian villagers with no experience of spying who
feminine bedrooms, dressing rooms and drawing rooms. Emile de kept the British up to date on German troop movements and
Bruijn, Collections and Grants Registrar for the National Trust new Nazi weapons.
and ‘NT Treasure Hunt’ blogger, will discuss how surviving
Chinese wallpapers provide fascinating evidence of the gendered
nature of exoticism.

14 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 15

Saturday 23 June – Talks, debates and performances
Patricia Ferguson
Private Passions; Public Displays
4.30-5.30pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
From Bess of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire to Mrs George
Bambridge of Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, the women who
lived in Britain’s country houses left behind them a treasure trove
of historical context in the form of their interior-design choices.
Patricia Ferguson, author of Ceramics: 400 years of British
Collecting in 100 Masterpieces, surveys the fascinating female
collectors and buyers, from slavish followers of fashion to
mavericks with uncommon taste, who put their unique stamp on
the properties now in the care of the National Trust.
Tracy Borman
The King’s Witch
6-7pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£9
We’re delighted to welcome to Wimpole celebrated historian
Tracy Borman, author of a number of highly acclaimed books,
including The Private Lives of the Tudors, Elizabeth’s Women and
Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction. Borman is
joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and Chief Executive
of the Heritage Education Trust, and joins us to discuss her debut
novel The King’s Witch, set during the reign of James I.
Thomas Williams
The Vikings
6-7pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
Thomas Williams curated the British Museum’s landmark
exhibition ‘Vikings: Life and Legend’, and here presents his
remarkable new history of the Scandinavian settlers whose
enduring impact shaped British social, cultural and political
development for hundreds of years. The Vikings weren’t only
interested in raping, pillaging and rampaging along the British
coastline – they also came to colonise and to rule. Drawing
deeply from the relics and landscapes that the Vikings and their
contemporaries fashioned and walked, Williams offers a vital
evocation of a forgotten world.
16 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851
Saturday 23 June – Talks, debates and performances
David Olusoga
Looking Back to Look Forward
7.30-8.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
‘The past haunts the present in all areas of our national
conversation’ so says David Olusoga, festival patron and one of
our most prominent, engaging and accessible TV historians. His
ground-breaking book Black and British was the deserving winner
of last year’s PEN Hessell-Tiltman prize. A BBC producer-turned-
presenter, most recently on our screens in A House Through Time
and Civilisations, join Olusoga as he pieces together the threads of
Britain’s forgotten past, its contested present and questions for
the future.
With thanks to
PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize
Sarah Dunant
When Greeks Flew Kites: The Dating Game
7.30-8.45pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
Novelist and broadcaster Sarah Dunant presents a special audience
edition of BBC Radio 4’s monthly history programme, When Greeks
Flew Kites. Jumping off from the deep current anxiety about men’s
behaviour towards women, Sarah and guests investigate the quick-
sands of dating and courtship through history, and ask if there is
anything that the past can teach us about this present moment.
This event will include a non-broadcast Q&A session
The Boxwood Chessman Ceilidh
8pm | Great Barn | £16
Join us to celebrate the summer solstice with professional ceilidh band The Boxwood
Chessman and a delicious hog roast (vegetarian option available). Located in Wimpole’s
stunning Great Barn come and twirl the night away – who could resist?
wimpolehistoryfestival.com 17
 Sunday 24 June – Talks, debates and performances

Sarah Churchwell
American Dream or Global Nightmare?
The Creation of Trump’s America
10.30-11.30am | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Broadcaster, author, and cultural and political critic Sarah
Churchwell takes us behind Trump’s posturing speeches to
reveal how his ‘new American moment’ is in fact nearly a century
old. ‘America first’ and the ‘American dream’, phrases that
resounded throughout his presidential campaign, have been
around for a hundred years – and even in their infancy were
already tangled around capitalism, democracy and race. What
does it mean to put America first, and what exactly are
Americans supposed to be dreaming of? Churchwell’s searing
and insightful account shows that the America of the last
century has much to teach us about the true spirit of America
today – and that we lose touch with history at our peril.
In conversation with David Reynolds, festival patron, Professor
of International History and author of America, Empire of
Liberty

Mark Purcell
The Country House Library
10.30-11.30am | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
Perfect for anyone interested in country house life, the cultural
history of Britain and Ireland, or the history of libraries over
nearly two thousand years. Books, and the rooms that contained
them, were fundamental to the intellectual, creative and social
life of the country house. Libraries Curator for the National Trust
and author of The Country House Library Mark Purcell will
consider library acquisition, the process of designing library
architecture, and the care (and neglect) of collections.

Dan Jones
The Templars
12-1pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Journalist, historian and TV presenter Dan Jones discusses his
‘exhilarating, epic, sword-swinging history’ (Times Literary
Supplement) of the Knights Templar. Inspiration of historians
and novelists (and conspiracy theorists) from their own times
up to the present day, the Templars were the wealthiest, most
powerful and most secretive of the military orders that
flourished in the crusading era. Jones brings to blistering life an
extraordinary saga of unrestrained financial power, propaganda
and political envy.

wimpolehistoryfestival.com 19
 Sunday 24 June – Talks, debates and performances
Nino Strachey
Rooms of Their Own
12-1pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
Virginia Woolf famously concluded, ‘A woman must have money
and a room of her own to write fiction.’ Nino Strachey explores
the homes of Virginia Woolf, her lover Vita Sackville-West, and
Vita’s first cousin Eddy – the man who stood between Vita and
Knole, the house she loved but could not inherit. Bringing
together stories of love, desire and intimacy, with vivid accounts
of the settings in which they took place, Strachey offers fresh
insights into the complicated interlocking lives of the Bloomsbury
Group.
Kate Mosse
The Burning Chambers
1.30-2.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
Kate Mosse’s Languedoc novels, beginning with 2005’s Labyrinth,
have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into
more than 42 languages. Her new book The Burning Chambers,
the first in a trilogy to be set against a backdrop of three hundred
years of history stretching from sixteenth-century France to
nineteenth-century southern Africa, sees her leap forward in
time for a gripping story of love and betrayal, mysteries and
© RUTH CRAFER
secrets. We’re excited to host her at Wimpole to talk about her
work.
Diane Atkinson
Vote 100
1.30-2.30pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
Diane Atkinson tells the compelling story of the struggle to gain
women the right to vote, from the half-a-million gathering of
‘Women’s Sunday’ in 1908 to the Representation of the People
Act in 1918. Helping us to reflect on the centenary of female
suffrage, she explores the lives of the hundreds of figures – from
the famous Pankhursts to Oldham mill girl Annie Kenney –
whose devotion to the campaign paved the way for generations
to come.
20 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851
Sunday 24 June – Talks, debates and performances
Oonagh Kennedy
Nancy Astor off the Pedestal
1.30-2.30pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
Britain’s first female MP Nancy Astor, well-known socialite
and wit, was also an important patron – and subject – of
twentieth-century painting and sculpture. Cliveden Curator
Oonagh Kennedy considers how female emancipation, the
expression of the ‘New Woman’ and Nancy’s perception of
herself came together in John Singer Sargent’s 1908 portrait
of Viscountess Astor, and what that meant for Nancy.
Jenni Murray
A History of Britain in 21 Women
3-4pm | East Lawn Marquee | £13/£11
Writer and leading light of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Jenni
Murray presents the history of Britain as you’ve never seen it
before, through the lives of twenty-one women who refused to
succumb to the established laws of society. From suffragette
pioneers and unrecognised visionaries to great artists and
trailblazing politicians, the lives of her subjects embodied hope
and change, and still have the power to inspire us today.
© LES WILSON
In conversation with Anna Whitelock, historian, broadcaster
and author of Elizabeth’s Bedfellows
‘If I won the lottery, I’d give a copy of this inspirational book to
every teenager in the country’ – Historical Novel Society
Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski
John Soane
3-4pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8
One of Britain’s most fascinating architects, Sir John Soane’s
impact on the direction and development of British buildings was
unparalleled – and many of his ideas can be traced directly back
to the Grand Tour of Italy that he undertook in his twenties.
Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski, Curator at Kenwood House, will explore
how Soane’s two-year survey of Italian cities and archaeological
sites led to his revolutionary approach to classical architecture
(demonstrated in his work at Wimpole Hall), and to the teaching
of architecture as a profession in Britain.
wimpolehistoryfestival.com 21
Sunday 24 June – Talks, debates and performances Sunday 24 June – Talks, debates and performances

Peter Hart
1918: The Last Battle
4.30-5.30pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
Mention 1918 and we usually fast-forward to the Armistice,
jumping over the climactic battles that brought the First World
War to an end. Peter Hart, oral historian at the Imperial War
Museum, and author of Gallipoli and other acclaimed books on
1914-18, brings to life the forgotten voices from the front as he
narrates the Great War’s dramatic endgame.
David Abulafia, Dr Julie Smith & Philip Murphy
Chaired by David Reynolds, festival patron and Professor of
Britain and the World Post-Brexit
International History, University of Cambridge
6-7pm | Rathbones Marquee | £11/£9
2016’s referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union rocked Britain, whether the
result left you downcast or delighted. But how did we get to that result? How has Britain’s role on
the global stage, and especially in Europe, led us to Article 50 and a looming Brexit? What future
Joe Hufton role might it play, and can the Commonwealth really save British trade and diplomacy? David
Making Theatre in Unusual Places Abulafia, Chair of the cross-party ‘Historians for Britain’ (which has long argued for reform of the
EU), Dr Julie Smith, Director of the European Centre at the University of Cambridge’s Department
4.30-5.30pm | Grand Dining Room | £10/£8 of Politics and International Studies, and Philip Murphy, author of The Empire’s New Clothes: The
Under railway arches, amongst lost forests, in abandoned Myth of the Commonwealth, will place Brexit in its historical context, and debate Britain’s
shopping malls and hidden deep within country houses – just a negotiation of a new place in the world.
few of the weird and wonderful locations commandeered by Chaired by Liam Halligan, economist, Telegraph columnist and broadcaster
director Joe Hufton. An Associate of Les Enfants Terribles
Theatre Company, Hufton will talk about the challenges and
rewards of changing the ways we think about familiar spaces, as
well as ‘The Word Defiant’, his Blickling House New Art
Commission for the National Trust.

Charles Spencer
To Catch a King © CATERINA TURRONI

6-7pm | East Lawn Marquee | £12/£10
How did the most wanted man in the country outwit the greatest
manhunt in British history? The ninth Earl Spencer presents a
nail-biting real-life adventure, the epic story of Charles II’s
astonishing evasion of Parliamentary forces after his defeat at
the 1651 battle of Worcester. With his supporters killed or
imprisoned, the ensuing weeks of deception, disguise and
disappearance tested Charles’s grit, fortitude and good luck to
the limits. Based on extensive archive material, Spencer uses
trusted sources and recently-discovered first-hand accounts
from the 1600s to re-tell the most dramatic and thrilling episode
of the young king’s life.
© PHIL MYNOTT
Mary Beard & David Olusoga Civilisations
7.30-8.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £13/£10
Join bestselling TV historians Mary Beard and David Olusoga as they examine history through the
lens of global culture. Three years in the making, and filmed in 31 countries and on six continents,
the BBC’s Civilisations series questions what lies at the heart of identity – and what makes us
human. Civilisations presenters Beard and Olusoga will discuss the ideas underlying their
respective contributions to the series to uncover what we now think ‘civilisation’ is, and our stake
in the very idea of it.
Chaired by Mark Jones, former Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum

With thanks to

22 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 23


Become an examiner
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experience by becoming examiners for History.
We are welcoming new examiners for the
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To apply to be an examiner, please visit
cambridgeinternational.org/makeyourmark
Children’s events – Saturday 23 June
Kate Pankhurst
Fantastically Great Women Who Made
History
10.30-11.30am | Rathbones Marquee | £8 | Ages 5-8
Stand tall with daring suffragette leader Flora Drummond (AKA
the General) to get VOTES FOR WOMEN! Send secret messages
with the astoundingly brave World War Two undercover wireless
radio operator, Noor Khan. Search for treasure with pirate queen
Sayidda Al-Hurra, and meet a whole host of women who made
history.
Mad Science
A History of Science Show
12-1pm | Rathbones Marquee | £8 | Ages 5+
KERPOW! KABOOM! Get ready for some serious explosions and
mind-boggling experiments as you travel through time and
explore some of history’s greatest scientific discoveries. Witness
the origins of science in Ancient Greece and watch
your hair stand on end with the discovery
of static electricity, play the ‘Gravity
Game’ inspired by Galileo and Sir
Isaac Newton, and experience the
dramatic chemical reaction that ignited the
Great Fire of London – one of the most devastating
displays of science in history. Zoom back to the present
day and get ready to zig-zag across the stage on the
Mad Science hovercraft. Goggles on for an utterly
MAD hour of history and science!
Frances Hardinge
A Skinful of Shadows
1.30-2.30pm | Rathbones Marquee | £8 | Ages 12+
Join 2015 Costa Award winner Frances Hardinge, author of The
Lie Tree, as a she weaves a dark, otherworldly tale of magic and
mystery. As the English Civil War erupts, the courageous
Makepeace must defend herself from the wild and brutish
ghostly spirits that try to possess her – but they may be her only
defence in a time of dark suspicion and fear. Set in a seventeenth-
century England riven with political and religious unease, this is a
thrilling tale of hidden secrets and shadowy suspicion, Puritans
and power struggles – both in the real world, and the other.
wimpolehistoryfestival.com 25
Children’s events – Sunday 24 June Children’s events – Sunday 24 June

Philip Ardagh Christopher Lloyd

The Secret Diary of Thomas Snoop:
Tudor Spy Boy
10.30-11.30am | Rathbones Marquee | £8 | Ages 7+
Calling all young snoops and spies! Thomas Snoop is a Tudor spy.
Ordered by England’s Spymaster to travel to the beautiful
Goldenhilt Hall, Thomas has been given a most important
mission: to help fight against fellow Englishmen who are plotting
with a foreign power – the Spanish! It will take all of Thomas’s
wits and cunning to uncover the traitors lurking at Goldenhilt
Hall… without being discovered himself. Join Roald Dahl Funny
Prize-winning author Philip Ardagh as he returns to the festival
for a hilarious hour of super-sleuthing – Tudor style.
A History of the World in 20 Objects
4.30-5.30pm | East Lawn Marquee | £8 | Ages 8+
Grab your shoes and get ready to join Christopher Lloyd on a
time-travelling adventure through the history of the WHOLE
WORLD – from the Big Bang to the present day. Using a series of
everyday objects picked from a dazzling coat of many pockets,
get ready to zoom through 13.7 billion years and stop off at
twenty key moments in the history of the planet and people.
Observe the formation of the earth and walk with dinosaurs,
journeying from the lands of Aztecs and Ancient Greece all the
way to the industrial revolution and beyond. Buckle your
seatbelts and hold tight – history is about to take off!

Francesca Simon Saturday 23 & Sunday 24

Hack and Whack
12-1pm | Rathbones Marquee | £8 | Ages 3+ Sword School
Hack and Whack are on the attack! Desperate to avoid bedtime, The Paddocks | £7 | Ages 8-16
these two angelic-looking Viking toddler twins are on the rampage: Learn how to fight like a medieval
marauding around the village, upsetting the apple carts, recruiting knight and test your skills at
other children and causing chaos. But there is something much Wimpole’s very own sword school.
more terrifying than them to watch out for….their MUM! Join There will be six 30-minute sessions
award-winning author of best-selling Horrid Henry series throughout the day.
Francesca Simon for a gloriously funny, slapstick and action- Sessions can be booked in
packed adventure with history’s most terrible twosome. advance via the Box Office
© HELEN GILES

Falconry
The Paddocks | £7 | Ages 5+
Calling all young falconers! Learn
Kevin Crossley Holland & Francesca Simon about the history of falconry and
have a go at handling these
Norse Mythology magnificent birds with the Fens
3-4pm | Rathbones Marquee | £8 | Ages 10+ Falconry experts. There will be three
Why does Odin only have one eye? How does the shape-shifting 30-minute sessions throughout the
trickster Loki cause so much trouble? What is it like to be Hel, day.
goddess of the Underworld? Hop in your Viking longship and Sessions can be booked in
voyage across the stormy seas to the shadowy forests and advance via the Box Office
snow-capped mountains of Norway and Iceland, and join two
modern-day masters of Norse mythology, Francesca Simon and
Kevin Crossley Holland, as they bring to life their favourite myths
and legends from Scandinavia.

26 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 27

 Birdsong Productions Ltd in association with The Original Theatre Company

SEBASTIAN FAULKS’S

STAGE VERSION BY
RACHEL WAGSTAFF
DIRECTED BY WITH
ALASTAIR CHARLOTTE
WHATLEY PETERS

Sunday 24 Jun 2018 | 7.30pm

Philharmonia
Orchestra
Conductor | Esa-Pekka Salonen
Horn Soloist | Katy Woolley
Beethoven |Overture, Namensfeier
Mozart | Horn Concerto No. 4, K495
“It left me choked up and BLINKING “MOVING, GRIPPING, dramatically
Beethoven | Symphony No. 2
BACK THE TEARS at the end.” ELECTRIFYING and OUTSTANDING.”
HHHH The Daily Telegraph HHHH The Times

MON 14  SAT 19 MAY

Box Office: 01223 503333
www.cambridgeartstheatre.com
Getting to and around the festival

A1198
A14
A1

Papworth Everard
A14
St Neots
A428
Cambourne
Cambridge
Bourne
A603

A10 M11
B1042
A1198
12 Melbourn
Biggleswade A505 Duxford
A1

A505
Royston

Address
Wimpole Estate, Arrington, Royston
Cambridgeshire SG8 0BW
8 Parking
There is plenty of parking on site which is free to
National Trust members and £2 for non-members.
6 9
By cycle
National Trust-permitted cycle path to entrance from
2 Orwell (A603).
3 1
11 By train
Shepreth 5 miles. Taxi service from Royston 8 miles.
7
13 By road
4
8 miles south-west of Cambridge (A603), 6 miles
10 north of Royston (A1198). Entrance via A603.
5

Entrance from A603

Walled Garden
1 East Lawn Marquee 6 Garden Tours
10 Stable Block
National Trust shops, Café, toilets
Display Field and information
2 Rathbones Marquee 7 Living History
11 Book Signing Marquee
The Paddocks
3 Grand Dining Room 8 Archery, Falconry and Sword School Folly Field
12 Scything Festival
Old Rectory Restaurant Home Farm and Great Barn
4 Hot food, drinks and snacks
9 Farm History Tours, Ceilidh Front Lawn
13 Morning Yoga
Church Field
5 Box Office tent, food and craft stalls

30 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 31

Food and drink Where to stay Friday 7 July

Hotel Felix, Whitehouse Lane, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0LX

01223 277977, help@hotelfelix.co.uk, www.hotelfelix.co.uk
Hotel Felix is a four star boutique hotel set in beautiful surroundings, just a short drive from the
city centre. It boasts 52 comfortable bedrooms, award-winning Graffiti Restaurant, a light, airy
Orangery and a south-facing Terrace, perfect for enjoying the gardens.

Regent Hotel, 41 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB

01223 351470, reservations@regenthotel.co.uk, www.regenthotel.co.uk

The Old Rectory Restaurant, the Farm Café Rural Coffee Project – exceptional coffee and
and the Stables Café will all be serving a pastries served from Daisy, an ex-military
range of locally sourced treats. Land Rover

In addition Church Field has a host of food and
drinks vans to satisfy every palate including:
Ahazar Street Food – serving some truly
tasty Spanish flavours
Box Trot – Offering healthy, invigorating
street GLACOS – the global taco. Bursting
with punchy fusion flavours and served from a
beautifully renovated Rice horsebox
The Wandering Yak – healthy street food Hilton Cambridge City Centre, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DT
with a Middle Eastern twist served from a 01223 464491, stnhc_hotel@hilton.com
lovely truck
Wood Fired Wonders – delicious pizza from
the back of a converted Land Rover
The Royal Cambridge Hotel, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PY 01223 351631,
reservations.cambridge@sjhotels.co.uk, www.theroyalcambridgehotel.co.uk

The Cambridge Cider Company – serving

hand crafted cider and perries from hand-
picked and unsprayed fruit

Chip Chip Hooray – using locally-sourced

potatoes to serve up some serious chip
heaven, with a wide variety of toppings

The Gin Trailer – local gin enthusiasts

Gary and Simon serve 25 varieties from their
converted Rice horsebox

Guerilla Kitchen – delicious food served up

with experience and flair

Jack’s Gelato – perfect, locally-made

ice-cream using organic ingredients

The Moonshine Brewery – serving beers

with a clean, fresh taste

32 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 wimpolehistoryfestival.com 33

Booking information With thanks to our supporters

Marquee sponsor Travel partner

Book online
www.cambridgelivetickets.co.uk
Book in person
Monday-Friday 12pm-6pm
Saturday 10am-6pm
Cambridge Live Tickets, Wheeler Street
Cambridge CB2 3QB
During the Festival weekend
A ticket to a festival event gives you free
access to the Wimpole Estate which includes
Hall, Home Farm and Gardens.
Ticket delivery and collection
Tickets booked up to seven days in advance
can be posted out for a charge of £1.50 or
collected free of charge from the Cambridge
Waiting lists
We offer a waiting list for sold-out events.
Please contact the Box Office on
01223 357851 to be added to the list.
Children Media partners
All children under the age of 11 must be
accompanied at all times by an adult with
their own ticket. Ticket concessions for
children are available at all events. Event sponsors
Ticket Prices
Ticket prices vary for each event. We offer
concession prices to the following:
Children and young people up to age 25 Event partner Supporters
Registered unemployed
Disabled people (carer goes free – see details
contact the Box Office).
CDS
cambridge design studio

PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize

Live Tickets Box Office up to the day before
the festival begins on 22 June 2018. Concession prices are shown in the printed
Festival Box Office programme next to full-price adult ticket
Participating publishers
During the festival weekend the Box Office prices. Proof of entitlement will be required.
Allen Lane Harper Collins John Murray Oxford University Press
will be located on Church Field at the Wimpole Latecomers BBC Books Head of Zeus Little, Brown Profile Books
Bloomsbury Hodder & Stoughton Macmillan Children's Books Walker Studio
Estate. It will be open from 2pm on Friday 22 If you are late to an event you will only be Bodley Head Hurst Mantle What on Earth
June and from 9am on Saturday 23 and admitted at discretion of the steward(s). Connell Publishing Hutchinson (Penguin Nosy Crow William Collins
Faber & Faber Random House) Oneworld
Sunday 24 June 2018 to buy and collect pre- Seats will be reserved for latecomers. Please
booked tickets. All tickets must be collected or be considerate of others and allow enough
purchased here during the festival weekend. time to pick up your tickets and arrive at your
Please allow enough time to collect your venue promptly. Refunds will not be given to THE FIRST REQUEST OF CIVILISATION...
tickets before your event starts to provide for latecomers.
queuing and walking to the venue. It can take
IS THAT OF JUSTICE
up to 15 minutes to walk from the Box Office
to festival event venues.
Sigmund FREUD
Access
Please request a wheelchair space when
booking events in the festival marquees. Fenners Chambers
Wheelchair access is not available in the are proud to sponsor
Grand Dining Room.
Mary Beard’s and
For information about booking accessible
David Olusoga’s
seating, please call the Box Office or email
tickets@cambridgelivetrust.co.uk talk “Civilisation” at the
Refunds and exchanges Wimpole History Festival on
Refunds for unused tickets will only be made Sunday 24th June 2018 at
where an event is sold out or cancelled. If
7:30pm - 8:30pm in the East
your event is sold out or cancelled and you do
not want a refund, you can exchange your Lawn Marquee, Wimpole Hall,
ticket for another event at the festival SG8 0BW.
(subject to availability). If you are unable to
use your ticket or wish to exchange it for 3 Madingley Road | Cambridge | CB3 0EE
another event, please contact the Box Office
clerks@fennerschambers.com
at least 48 hours before the festival starts.
01223 368761

34 Book at: cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851 www.fennerschambers.com

Cambridge Literary Festival
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Diary Dates 2018

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Winter 24–25 November

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