Chalke Talk

The podcast from the Chalke Valley History Festival
Released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings

Chalke Talks for CVHFYEAR: 2018


  • 02. THE KING’S WITCH: JAMES I AND THE GUNPOWDER PLOT
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    In this talk, inspired by her debut novel partially set at nearby Longford Castle, Festival favourite Tracy Borman takes us into the turbulent world of the early Stuart court, where King James I waged a war on witches and Catholics alike. It was not long before a dark campaign to destroy both King and Parliament […]

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  • 04. THE PARIS PEACE TREATIES
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    This talk by Dr Peter Caddick-Adams for senior pupils at the Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools, challenges some assumptions about the aftermath of the First World War. The armistice in 1918 was a truce but fighting continued in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for several years. He explains that the Treaty of Versailles […]

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  • 07. THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE EMPIRE OF THE IMAGINATION
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    Worshipped, pilloried, and forever debated. Such is the fate of Thomas Jefferson, whose actions and ideas — more than those of any of the other Founding Fathers —still divide Americans two centuries later. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Harvard Professor Annette Gordon-Reed extends the analysis of Jefferson in light of prevailing attitudes towards politics, slavery, genetics, […]

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  • 15. BEHOLD, AMERICA: A HISTORY OF AMERICA FIRST AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
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    Professor Sarah Churchwell offers a history of “America First,” one of Trump’s campaign slogans. Although popular wisdom attributes the phrase to Charles Lindbergh and the isolationist “America First Committee” of 1940-1941, the expression has a longer, and darker, history, a story of nativism and the Ku Klux Klan, of “100 percent Americanism” and isolationism, and […]

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  • 22. REMEMBERING THE FUTURE: HISTORY AS A CORDIAL FOR DROOPING SPIRITS
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    We cannot change the past, but we are responsible for how we remember it. The Irish, Welsh and Scots have recovered their sense of identity through a fresh remembering of their heritage. Richard Chartres, former Bishop of London, proposes a creative response to the post-Brexit challenges to the English national identity and examines what needs […]

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  • 28. SALAFI-JIHADISM: THE HISTORY OF AN IDEA
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    No topic has gripped the public imagination as dramatically as the spectre of global jihadism. While much has been said about the way jihadists behave, their ideology remains poorly understood. Shiraz Maher, an authority on radicalisation, charts the intellectual underpinnings of Salafi-Jihadism from its origins in the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the jihadist […]

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  • 30. THE BURNING CHAMBERS: THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION, HUGUENOTS v CATHOLICS
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    Kate Mosse discusses one of the darkest periods in French history. The Wars of Religion began in 1562 and ended, after millions had been massacred or displaced, with the Edict of Nantes in 1598. She examines the power struggles between Catholic and Protestant factions in Carcassonne, Paris, London and Amsterdam and how this dark history […]

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  • 41. THE AGINCOURT ARCHER
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    Experimental archaeologist Dave Allan discusses the daily life of an English longbowman from his training to the skills needed. Drawing upon real artefacts from different bows to arrowheads, this offers a compelling insight.

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  • CRAEFT: HOW TRADITIONAL CRAFTS ARE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST MAKING
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    In a period of meaningless mass manufacturing, handcrafted products command a premium. But there was a time when craft meant something very different; the Old English word cræft possessed an almost indefinable sense of knowledge, wisdom, and power. Historian and broadcaster Alex Langlands investigates the mysterious lost meaning, resurrecting the ancient craftspeople who fused exquisite […]

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  • CHINA’S WAR WITH JAPAN 1937-45: A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
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    In 1937 the ‘Marco Polo Bridge Incident’ plunged China and Japan into a conflict of extraordinary duration and ferocity – a war that would result in many millions of deaths and completely reshape East Asia in ways that we continue to confront today. Professor Rana Mitter explains how Japan’s failure to defeat China was the […]

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  • ARNHEM: THE BATTLE FOR THE BRIDGES, 1944
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    The battle of Arnhem, the great airborne fight for the bridges in 1944, was a courageous strategic gamble that failed. Britain’s best- selling historian Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Allied and German archives, reconstructs the terrible reality of the fighting and questions whether this plan to end the war could ever have worked, […]

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  • 57. A DISGUSTING LOOK AT HISTORY: FROM THE BLACK DEATH TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
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    Comedian, author and lover of quirky history, Charlie Higson takes us on a journey through some of the more disgusting and revolting parts of history, from the bubonic plague and other horrible diseases and hideous agues to the myths of the zombie apocalypse. Despite the grotesque subject matter, this is suitable for all ages.

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  • 60. ELIZABETH I AND HER WORLD
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    In this talk for secondary schools, historian and author of important textbooks Ben Walsh covers the background to Elizabeth I’s reign. He explains the lives of ordinary people in England at that time giving context to the events of the period. He also shows how historians investigate their subjects.

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  • 61. THESE ISLANDS: A LETTER TO BRITAIN
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    In the first ever CVHF Directors’ Lecture, Professor Ali Ansari reveals, in a passionately eloquent plea, why Britain should re-examine some of its historical myths, and why misrepresentations of the past are harming the unity that is the bedrock of our United Kingdom.

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  • 62. CHATSWORTH
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    Chatsworth has one of Europe’s most significant and diverse art collections which has grown with each generation, encompassing Old Masters, antiquities, contemporary ceramics, modern sculpture and computer portraits to name but a few. The 12th Duke of Devonshire talks through his predecessors’ contributions to the collection, the house and the surrounding landscape and touches upon […]

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  • 66. FOOD AND COOKERY IN IRON AGE BRITAIN: FROM THE DIG TO THE PLATE
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    Caroline Nicolay, an experimental archaeologist specialising in Iron Age Britain, discusses just what it was that Iron Age men and women ate and what evidence they left behind, explaining much about our Celtic past.   

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  • 68. AUNTIE’S WAR: THE BBC DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
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    As an essential propaganda tool and the voice that relayed news of all the key moments of World War II to every household, Auntie – the BBC’s enduring nickname – played a crucial role during World War II. Veteran BBC Radio presenter and journalist Edward Stourton provides a remarkable portrait of a unique institution and […]

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  • 77. WEIMAR AND NAZI GERMANY
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    In this excellent talk for secondary schools, Professor Alexandra Richie, concentrating largely on Berlin, and the life and career of Adolf Hitler, shows how Weimar was a result of the First World War, and that, despite the image we have of Weimar, there were a great many continuities from Weimar Germany into Nazi Germany.

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  • 79. RICHARD III: BROTHER, PROTECTOR, KING
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    Richard III remains one of England’s most controversial monarchs. There are few parallels in English history that can match the drama of his reign, witnessed here in its full bloody intensity. Chris Skidmore strips back the legends that surround Richard’s life, showing the man as his contemporaries saw him, and presenting him as one of […]

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  • 85. IN THE MOUTH OF THE WOLF: BROTHER, FATHER, TEACHER, SPY
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    Michael Morpurgo, one of Britain’s best-loved writers of children’s books, tells the incredible, true story of his uncles during World War II. The tale follows two brothers; Francis was a pacifist and conscientious objector, while Pieter signed up to fight. What happened next changed the course of Francis’s life forever, and threw him into the […]

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  • 97. THE DARKENING AGE: THE CHRISTIAN DESTRUCTION OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD
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    The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. Catherine Nixey paints a dark but riveting picture of life at the time of the ‘triumph’ of Christianity and gives a gripping account of […]

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  • 101. THE SECRET WORLD: THE LOST HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD TO THE 21st CENTURY
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    What difference have security and intelligence operations made to the course of history? Professor Christopher Andrew, Britain’s foremost intelligence scholar, provides the answers. Beginning with the shift in the ancient world from divination to recognisable attempts to gather intelligence, he charts the development of intelligence and security operations through Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England and Napoleonic […]

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  • 102. MODERN IRAN: REVOLUTIONS, REPUBLIC AND WAR
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    Iran remains an enigma to most of us in the West: once Persia, a land rich in culture, exoticism and history, but more recently a country embroiled in wars and an Islamic revolution. In this talk, Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History at the University of St Andrews, explains why modern Iran has evolved in […]

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  • 106. AIRFORCE BLUE: THE RAF IN WORLD WAR TWO- SPEARHEAD OF VICTORY
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    Patrick Bishop, an outstanding historian of the wartime RAF, examines the high point of the RAF’s existence – the Second World War – when the air force saved the nation from defeat and then led the advance to victory. From the choppy seas of the Atlantic to the sands of the Western Desert to the […]

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  • 111. A HISTORY OF SPORTING GENIUS
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    Why are some touched with sporting greatness? What is it that lifts mortal men to achieve sporting pinnacles? And why is it that so many sporting greats are also touched with self-destruction? In this discussion, we were thrilled to bring together three experts and a passionate observer to delve deep into the lives and brilliance […]

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  • 115. ELIZABETH I: A STUDY IN INSECURITY
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    In the popular imagination Elizabeth I is the symbol of monarchical power, the Virgin Queen who ruled over a Golden Age. But the image is as much armour against reality as it is a reflection of the truth. Dr Helen Castor shows England’s iconic queen in a revealing new light, shaped by profound insecurity that […]

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  • 118. MARJORIE CLARK WITH THE SOE IN ITALY
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    Tim Clark and Nick Cook, co-authors of Monopoli Blues, talk to Tim’s mother, former SOE/FANY wireless operator, Marjorie Clark, about her wartime experiences and those of her husband Bob, whom she met when they served with the SOE in Italy. Part tale of derring-do, part wartime romance, it is also the story of Tim’s journey […]

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  • 119. THE BIG BAD GLOSSIES: A PARTISAN HISTORY OF POST-WAR MAGAZINES
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    With a career that has spanned 30 years at the most senior levels of Condé Nast International, no one is better placed to give an insider view of the world of the glossy magazine than Nicholas Coleridge, at the time, Chairman of Condé Nast Britain. In this talk, he combines anecdote and scholarship to review […]

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  • 120. SECRET PIGEON SERVICE: OPERATION COLUMBA, RESISTANCE & THE STRUGGLE TO LIBERATE OCCUPIED EUROPE
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    Between 1941 and 1944, sixteen thousand pigeons were dropped as part of ‘Columba’ – a secret British operation to bring back intelligence from those living under Nazi occupation. Gordon Corera, Security Correspondent for BBC news, tells a dramatic and tragic tale of espionage, starring not just pigeons but the networks of ordinary people who were […]

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  • 135. THE SHORTEST HISTORY OF GERMANY
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    What is it about Germany? Lying at the heart of Europe, the story of the German peoples is an epic one of empires, wars and an extraordinarily rich culture. Internationally best-selling writer James Hawes gives a thrilling ride through German history from Julius Caesar to Angela Merkel and answers the eternal question: are the Germans really us, or them?

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  • 143. BRITAIN’S GREATEST BATTLE: IMPHAL AND KOHIMA
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    This epic battle was voted Britain’s Greatest Battle in a poll by the National Army Museum, yet few know or understand why this brutal but decisive engagement was so significant. As James Holland reveals, it deserves greater recognition not just for the extraordinary leadership of General Bill Slim but also for epic heroism and the […]

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  • 152. THE BLACK PRINCE
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    In 1346, at the age of 16, he helped defeat the French at Crécy; ten years later he captured the King of France at Poitiers. Michael Jones illuminates the dramatic story of ‘the Black Prince’, the eldest son and heir of Edward III of England. Using the Prince’s own letters, he paints a memorable portrait […]

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  • 154. CLASH OF EMPIRES: ROME v GREECE
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    Rome. Greece. Two of the greatest civilisations ever to exist, yet the story of how the former came to conquer the latter just a few years after a brutal war with Carthage is little known today. The brilliant Ben Kane brings to life the characters, the political intrigue, the alliances made and broken, as well as the heroic […]

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  • 155. The Raj at War: A People’s History of India’s Second World War
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    The Second World War was not fought by Britain alone. India produced the largest volunteer army in world history: over 2 million men. Yasmin Khan presents the overlooked history of India at war, and will show how mobilisation for the war unleashed seismic processes of economic, cultural and social change – decisively shaping the international […]

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  • 156. ROME: A HISTORY IN SEVEN SACKINGS
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    No city on earth has preserved its past as has Rome, despite being afflicted by earthquakes, floods, fires, plagues and repeated ravages by roving armies. From the Gauls to the Nazis, Matthew Kneale vividly recounts the most important of these attacks, while drawing an intense and vibrant portrait of the city and its inhabitants, both […]

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  • 158. THE AVIATION HEROES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
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    The pioneering airmen of the First World War took incredible risks to perform their vital contribution to the war effort. Joshua Levine, official historian of the film Dunkirk, tells the story of the first heroes of the air, conveying the perils of early flight, the thrills of being airborne, and the horrors of war in […]

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  • 159. THE FEAR AND THE FREEDOM: HOW THE SECOND WORLD WAR CHANGED US
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    Keith Lowe has undertaken a pioneering and vitally important exploration of the aftermath of the war, how it affected different peoples and countries, and the unprecedented geopolitical, social, psychological and economic imprint it caused. In this talk he discusses his findings and explains why the war is still both important and highly relevant to this […]

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  • 161. A HERO FOR HIGH TIMES: A Guide to the Beats, Hippies, Freaks, Punks, Ravers, New-Age Travellers and Dog-on-a-rope Brew Crew Crusties of the British Isles 1956-1994
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    A free spirit who embraced the post-war counter-culture, Ian Marchant takes us on a splendid journey through some of his personal highs from the age of the Beats to the protests of Swampy.

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  • 165. THE WOMEN WHO FLEW FOR HITLER: THE TRUE STORY OF HITLER’S VALKYRIES
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    Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented and courageous women who fought convention to make their names in the male dominated world of flight and both were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gives an exciting – and as yet largely unknown – account of Nazi […]

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  • 174. THE VICTORIANS: TWELVE TITANS WHO FORGED BRITAIN
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    Many associate the Victorian era with austere social attitudes and filthy factories. Jacob Rees-Mogg discusses a very different picture of the age, one of bright ambition, bold self- belief and determined industriousness. Whether through Peel’s commitment to building free trade, Palmerston’s deft diplomacy in international affairs, or Brunel’s incredible engineering feats, the Victorians transformed the […]

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