Tobias Kelly & Charlotte McDonald-Gibson: Radical Outsiders

How much is your life shaped by your conscience? Journalist Charlotte McDonald- Gibson and academic Tobias Kelly ask us to imagine having views that set us apart. Kelly’s new book, Battles of Conscience, traces the histories of five beleaguered conscientious objectors during the Second World War. In Far Out: Encounters with Extremists, McDonald-Gibson interviews eight people with fringe beliefs, offering insights into our divided world. They speak to Roxani Krystalli today.

Book Festival News

Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival
Monday 26 August

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

Donate

Share

Watch more

Mieko Kawakami: Three Daughters of Osaka Mieko Kawakami: Three Daughters of Osaka While this year’s release of Breasts and Eggs marks the first time Mieko Kawakami has been translated into English (by Sam Bett and David Boyd), she has been a literary sensation in Japan for more than ten years. Her legions of fans include Haruki… Rachel Reeves at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Rachel Reeves at the Edinburgh International Book Festival In Women of Westminster, Labour MP Rachel Reeves tells the overlooked stories of leading and lesser known British politicians who have shaped a nation, from the earliest suffrage campaigns to Harriet Harman’s legislation on the gender pay gap. Reeves… Richard Holloway with Alison Watt: This One’s From the Heart Richard Holloway with Alison Watt: This One’s From the Heart Book Festival regulars need no introduction to Richard Holloway: he has spoken at the Festival every August for the past 23 years. He joins us this time to discuss The Heart of Things – a collection of his favourite poems and quotations, knitted together… Martha Wainwright: Failure, Fame and Family Martha Wainwright: Failure, Fame and Family It’s difficult to imagine acclaimed singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright as anything other than a singular success. Yet as the youngest member of a talented – often quietly cutting – musical family, Wainwright has long considered herself a failure in… Robin Robertson & Tim Robertson: Spirits of Scotland Robin Robertson & Tim Robertson: Spirits of Scotland Haunting, elemental and deeply charged, Robin Robertson’s writing evokes the mythology of landscapes and people, whether in Scotland or elsewhere. Most of his work takes the form of shorter poems and a new book, Grimoire, brings together some of Robertson’… Julia Neuberger talks to Richard Holloway at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Julia Neuberger talks to Richard Holloway at the Edinburgh International Book Festival The recent history of Corbyn’s Labour Party shows that antisemitism remains a problem for British society. But headlines brought more confusion than clarity in debates about definition. Westminster peer and West London Synagogue’s Senior Rabbi Julia… Leone Ross: All the Flavours of Love Leone Ross: All the Flavours of Love On the imagined Caribbean archipelago of Popisho, slavery has never existed and the only attempt at colonisation has been successfully resisted by the inhabitants. That’s the fantastical setting for Leone Ross’s immersive and rambunctious novel This One… David Keenan: A Mausoleum for the Two of Us David Keenan: A Mausoleum for the Two of Us ‘Hallucinatory’ and ‘entirely exhilarating,’ David Keenan’s debut novel This Is Memorial Device was as popular with reviewers as it was with readers. Published in 2017, Keenan’s alternative history of life for the lost youth of Airdrie in the late 1970s… Tracey Thorn: Music, Memories, and the Blue Moon Rose Tracey Thorn: Music, Memories, and the Blue Moon Rose Everything But the Girl recorded their last album in 1999 and more than twenty years on, they’ve retained a loyal fanbase around the world. The band’s singer and songwriter Tracey Thorn has also turned her hand to writing in recent years, producing… Zindzi Mandela with Allan Little (2018 Event) Zindzi Mandela with Allan Little (2018 Event) Zindzi Mandela is the youngest daughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. She has long been involved in South Africa’s freedom struggle and is currently serving as South Africa's ambassador to Denmark. In this frank interview with journalist and former BBC…