Mark Urban speaks with Ruth Wishart at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Salisbury poisoning of Sergei Skripal was one of the strangest stories of 2018. The Kremlin’s presumed involvement turned the case into a circus, but broadcaster Mark Urban has solid evidence, drawn from interviews Skripal gave pre-attack. The Skripal Files investigates his time in the Russian intelligence services and recruitment by MI6, starting a chain of events that would bring him close to death and worsen already fragile UK-Russian relations. He speaks with journalist Ruth Wishart in this event filmed live at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

UNBOUND: Words Per Minute UNBOUND: Words Per Minute Performers got 10 mins to impress with whatever creative talent they could offer in this event… Christie Watson: Wild At Heart Christie Watson: Wild At Heart Are we finally getting better at talking about middle age? A shining light leading us along is Christie Watson, writer of Quilt on Fire. Today she talks with broadcaster Sam Baker about the joys (plenty) and agonies (there are a few) of our middle years… Kei Miller: Silence is Violence Kei Miller: Silence is Violence A few years ago, when asked what he sees when he looks at a map, Kei Miller answered ‘I see the things that aren’t there... maps are always interesting to me for what’s left out…’. These gaps and omissions were a key part of the celebrated poet and… Philippe Sands with Ian Rankin: On the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive Philippe Sands with Ian Rankin: On the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive Philippe Sands’s celebrated 2016 memoir East West Street, expertly interwove the personal story of his ancestors in the Ukrainian city of Lviv with a professional interest in the establishment of international law in the aftermath of the Holocaust. His… George The Poet (2015 Event) George The Poet (2015 Event) George Mpanga is the 24 year old Cambridge-educated wordsmith who has attracted attention and accolades with his socio-political verse and urban beats, including a nomination for the BBC Music Sound of 2015. Born to Ugandan parents and brought up in… Kathryn Briggs: Art and Resistance Kathryn Briggs: Art and Resistance Kathryn Briggs is an internationally recognised, award-winning graphic novelist, zine creator, arts educator and independent publisher. Her short comics have been featured in anthologies including Treehouse Comic, Dirty Rotten Comics, Meanwhile…, and… Chigozie Obioma: Brothers in Arms Chigozie Obioma: Brothers in Arms Twice Booker-shortlisted author Chigozie Obioma’s new novel, The Road to the Country, is the story of two brothers divided during the devastating Nigerian Civil War. As they seek to reunite, their journeys become odysseys in a war-torn land. Obioma –… David Wengrow: Reimagining Prehistory David Wengrow: Reimagining Prehistory It’s a pervasive belief that early human history involved a pivotal bargain; when cities and agriculture developed, primitive hunter-gatherers exchanged their freedom and equality for the hierarchies of civilisation. This is far from the truth, argue… Tim Spector: Go with Your Gut Tim Spector: Go with Your Gut Food gives us life, yet diet misinformation abounds. Bestselling author and epidemiologist Tim Spector is here to separate fact from fiction – and to reassure us that we can love our bodies and food equally. Drawing on new research, Food for Life is an… Rutger Bregman: There is Hope for the Human Race Rutger Bregman: There is Hope for the Human Race ‘Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.’ So said Abraham Lincoln in one of his rousing speeches…