An Evening With Malcolm Gluck

Enjoy An Evening of Stories and Wine

with Malcolm Gluck

at Lord Leycester’s Hospital

Wednesday 14th April 7pm

You will be greeted with an aperitif glass of sparkling wine.

You will be able to taste Malcolm’s selection of half a dozen wines supplied by Underwoods of Warwick.

You will be charmed by Malcolm’s readings from his two new books.

You will have the opportunity to eat with Malcolm afterwards.

Malcolm is almost too well-known to need introduction but many of you will know him from his days as writer of the Superplonk wine column in the Guardian. With a reputation as one of the great mavericks of the wine world, Malcolm has his very own inimitable style and approach when it comes to tasting and talking about wine and he is probably the only wine writer in the world who rates wines on a value for money basis.

His latest book Chateau Lafite 1953 and other stories is “a searing collection of sixteen stories which lifts the veil from this often corrupt and always mysterious world.” Each story, based round a particular wine, not only lifts the veil on the murky goings on in the wine industry, but tells a tale sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, but always full of fascination. A treat in store when Malcolm reads extracts. And that is not to forget his other more esoteric book The Poetry of John Orland which mines the full range of human emotions, and which is even more enjoyable after a glass of wine or two!

Mentioning wine, we are very lucky that between them Malcolm and Nick Underwood of Underwood Wines of Warwick have chosen a selection of best value wines, both red and white, which you will be able to sample and which Malcolm will talk about. The Underwood Wine Warehouse in Warwick at The Old Pie Factory is one of the finest independent businesses in the town, and we are grateful that they are sponsoring the evening.

After the close of proceedings at Lord Leycester’s, we have booked the top floor of The Art Kitchen for those who wish to share a meal with Malcolm and Nick and continue drinking the wines of the evening. You will of course have to pay for your food, but Malcolm will talk about the matching of food with wines and generally carry on the convivial nature of the evening. If you wish to come to the Art Kitchen please let us know beforehand.

This is set to be a super event in the majestic surroundings of the medieval hall of the Hospital, and we recommend you book your tickets early as they are incredible value at £5 each! You can obtain your tickets from Warwick Books or Kenilworth Books.

An Evening With Martin Bell

Friday 30th April 7pm at Lord Leycester’s Hospital

It is a privilege to welcome Martin Bell a tireless campaigner for trust in politics to talk about his book ‘A Very British Revolution : The Expenses Scandal and How To Save Our Democracy’. Martin comes with impeccable timing, on the eve of an important General Election, to talk about an issue which haunts the whole election process and is utterly germane to how we see our MP’s.

Martin made his name in Vietnam in the 1960s, and also covered wars in the Middle East, Nigeria, Angola and Rwanda, as well as numerous assignments in Northern Ireland. Over the next 30 years, he reported from 80 countries and covered 11 conflicts.

His sparse, uncomprom ising style of journalism won him the Royal Television Society’s Reporter of the Year award in 1977, and again in 1993. He was awarded an OBE in 1992.

It was his last assignment for the BBC, however, which had the greatest impact on him, both physically and mentally.He was badly wounded by shrapnel as he delivered a bulletin from Sarajevo, his “lucky” white suit letting him down for once as he fell to the ground in agony. And what he saw while covering the war awoke a smouldering sense of injustice which was to define his future career.

He later stole the show of course in the 1997 election campaign with his anti-sleaze battle against MP Neil Hamilton.  His legendary fight for the safe Conservative seat at Tatton, on an independent, anti-corruption ticket, made him a symbol of the revolt against perceived sleaze in the governing Conservative Party. He won the seat with an 11,000 majority.

He now acts as an ambassador for UNICEF, and as an outspoken critic of the state of politics and journalism today.

Tickets £7.50 (£6 concessions) – to include a welcoming glass of wine – from Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books.

‘ The Girl On The Wall’

Jean Baggott talked about her new book

in March at The Lord Leycester’s Hospital

This was an amazing evening with a wonderful atmosphere. In a nutshell ‘The Girl On The Wall’ is an incredible and moving life story told through the stitches of a  tapestry hand-sewn by Jean, who comes from Warwick. The tapestry was on display during the evening and after mingling with the sizeable audience of friends and guests, Jean treated us to a few words about how she came to write the book which has received amazing national coverage.

Although her life was never destined to be a famous one nevertheless it is to our eyes a remarkable one, mapped out as it was growing up in the West Midlands and experiencing deprivations of a childhood during the Second World War.

Almost 60 years later, with her children grown up and dealing with the loss of the love of her life, Jean began the education denied to her as a girl and started a degree in history at the University of Warwick. Inspired by this new freedom, she then began to stitch a tapestry which looked back at her life and the changing world around her. It took her 16 months to complete and measures 112cm x 41cm.

The tapestry consists of over 70 intersecting circles, each telling some aspect of her life. Some represent extraordinary events such as the moon landings or world historical events like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some circles comment on famous people and places, others about the music she likes and the games she played with her brothers as a child.

Each chapter of the book then features a circle from the tapestry and Jean’s accompanying narrative, exploring the circle and the memories it evokes. Jean signed copies of the book on the night and we still have a few available. Do come and have a browse if you have not seen it before as the book is beautifully produced with a pull-out replica of the tapestry itself with accompanying plan.

We are very grateful to one of our favourite publishers Icon for supporting the event so splendidly and to Colonel Lesinski Master of the Hospital for hosting the evening.

Walk Into History Warwickshire

On Saturday 27th March we were delighted to welcome well-known local walker and historian John Wilks to sign copies of his new book Walks Into History Warwickshire. He was at Warwick Books during the morning and Kenilworth Books in the afternoon.

This is an excellent and clear guide to some lovely and interesting walks with a particular emphasis on key historical figures and places in Warwickshire. Walks vary in length from 3 to 8 miles and amongst the places visited are the mysterious Rollright Stones at Long Compton, the impressive Saxon church at Wootton Wawen, the site of Beaudesert castle, Warwick, Stratford and Kenilworth of course, Charlecote House, Baddesley Clinton and the spectacular flight of locks at Hatton. How To Get There, Parking and Refreshments are all covered, so it’s a little book which you won’t want to do without this summer. Priced at £7.99.

We have a few signed copies available which would make a lovely present for someone …..

Kenilworth Books Literary Weekend

Kenilworth Books had an excellent weekend of Meet The Author events during March. As well as visits from a number of Shire authors at the shop there were two talks from top historians.

First of all on the Friday Anna Hallett called at the shop to chat to customers about her book on Markets and Market Places, and this was followed by Sally Badham who discussed her area of expertise – Monumental Brasses. On the Saturday we were delighted to welcome two more Shire authors – Twigs Way who has produced a range of titles including those on Allotments, Garden Gnomes and Topiary, and then Sarah Jane Downing who has written on The English Pleasure Garden and Fashion in Times of Jane Austen. Shire produce such quirky little books that it is always a pleasure,a nd a revelation, to meet the authors who write for them. Great fun.

On Saturday evening we had a terrific event at Kenilworth Library. Juliet Barker who was responsible for the Chart-topping best-seller ‘Agincourt’, popular everywhere apart from France(!), was here to talk about her follow-up to that book Conquest which carries the story further and describes the ups and downs of the period when the English King also ruled in France. Virtually nothing has been written about these exciting times and it was a great privilege to see the results of Juliet’s hard work in the archives. She mined them to great effect  and we learned about the preparation that had to go into mounting large campaigns, the relationships between the chief protagonists, and lots of absolutely fascinating stuff on how the English managed in France without maps, what was the procedure for extracting an arrowhead from someone’s face, how the geese all over the Kingdom were denuded, and lots more. There are some well-known historians who only use secondary sources, and their work is essentially a re-telling. Juliet’s on the other hand is refreshingly original. It was a real privilege to be there.

Sunday evening saw us in The Stables at Kenilworth Castle which was an entirely appropriate venue for the talk given by Chris Skidmore on Death and the Virgin his book on the relationship between Dudley Earl of Leicester, his wife, and Queen Elizabeth I. Whilst everyone was absolutlely fascinated by the background painted by Chris on these glittering times, it was when he got to the new piece of evidence that he had found on Amy’s murder – the original coroner’s report, that we all became riveted. The plight of Amy Robsart, Dudley’s wife, who was found dead at the bottom of a very short flight of stairs, freeing him then to pursue his relationship with Elizabeth, has always been one of the great Tudor mysteries. Thanks again to Chris’ deep researches with colleagues into original archive material, he was able to dispel the possibility that it was an accident, and point to a murder and even the potential murderers. Thrilling detective work enthralled us all.

We do urge all our customers to keep in touch with our programme of events, and not to miss the visits of authors of similar renown and quality. We are very lucky indeed to be able to put on such a terrific series of ‘Meet The Auhor’ events throughout the year. It can only take place with your support.