Neil Oliver at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

With Britain considering its future, who better to turn to for historical perspective than Neil Oliver. His latest book is part history lesson, part travel guide and part love letter to the British Isles. From ancient woodlands to blood-soaked battlefields, prehistoric coastlines to the Millennium Dome, the engaging historian, archaeologist and broadcaster explores the nation’s fascinating, turbulent past 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

Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yoshida: Beyond Reasonable Doubt Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yoshida: Beyond Reasonable Doubt How Many More Women? exposes a rising threat to survivors of gender-based violence who want to speak out against abuse: the legal teams of powerful men who suppress allegations and prevent newspapers from running stories. Join renowned human rights… Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 20–23 August Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 20–23 August The Book Festival in full swing for the second week, in which we hear from Sue Perkins, Arundhati Roy, James Acaster and more… Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay & Don Paterson: Heavenly Scottish Poetry Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay & Don Paterson: Heavenly Scottish Poetry ‘It’s Hell for the poet arriving for the gig’ – so began Liz Lochhead’s 2004 poem ‘Hell for Poets’. But perhaps what her poem really wanted to express is that hell itself (or the biggest challenges thrown at us in life) can often be inspiration for the… Lights Off The Quay - pt3 (John Burnside) Lights Off The Quay - pt3 (John Burnside) We commissioned and published new stories and poems from four of the finest Scottish writers: A L Kennedy, Janice Galloway, John Burnside and Don Paterson. Lights Off The Quay, our first publication of new writing, is the result. A sold-out event at the… Jessie Greengrass & Gwendoline Riley: The Agony of Love Jessie Greengrass & Gwendoline Riley: The Agony of Love ‘Jessie Greengrass makes words dance. And she makes me want to stand up and dance with them.’ Elif Shafak’s selection of Greengrass as one of ten exciting women writers in the UK coincides neatly with the publication of her second novel, The High House –… Trevor Royle speaks with Magnus Linklater at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Trevor Royle speaks with Magnus Linklater at the Edinburgh International Book Festival While Scotland has been free of major military conflict since the 1940s, it could have been different had the Cold War escalated. In Facing the Bear, broadcaster, author and former associate editor of the Sunday Herald, Trevor Royle discusses how integral… Aleksandar Hemon: Man’s Inhumanity to Man Aleksandar Hemon: Man’s Inhumanity to Man He’s already celebrated as a leading international author, with books including The Lazarus Project under his belt, but Aleksandar Hemon’s new novel The World and All That It Holds is surely his most powerful yet. Set in Sarajevo in 1914, it’s an epic… Ian Rankin: A Rebus for the Dark Times Ian Rankin: A Rebus for the Dark Times We have all become familiar with living through these strange times but for Ian Rankin 2020 has been unusual in more ways than one. For starters, even though the number one bestselling writer thought he was taking a year off, he found himself topping the… Charlie Adlard and Robbie Morrison (2014 event) Charlie Adlard and Robbie Morrison (2014 event) Dream team Charlie Adlard and Robbie Morrison came to Edinburgh to talk about White Death, a frank graphic novel account of two dead bodies discovered almost 100 years on, and highlighting how snow was used as a military weapon. In this event, filmed live… Ian Rankin at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival Ian Rankin at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival There’s no stopping Rebus. Ian Rankin’s iconic detective has recently made a stage debut in Long Shadows and will be resurrected on TV in a new series by Black Watch playwright Gregory Burke. The latest Rebus novel, In a House of Lies, is one of the…