On Friday 18th May at 7pm at The Stables in Kenilworth Castle

Catherine Fletcher will be talking about her book

 ’Our Man In Rome’

Catherine Fletcher is a specialist in the history of Renaissance and early modern Europe, especially Italy, and lectures at the University of Durham. Her book ‘Our Man In Rome’ which is about the Italian diplomat who represented King Henry VIII’s interests at Rome when he was seeking his divorce, was brought out in February, I heard it on the radio with Mariella Frostrup, and couldn’t wait to invite Catherine here to talk about it. And what an interesting and unusual tale she has to tell.                                                                                                            It’s 1527. Gregorio ‘The Cavalier’ Casali is Henry VIII’s man in Rome. An Italian freelance diplomat, he charmed his way into the English service before he was twenty. But now he faces an almighty challenge. Henry wants a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and Casali must persuade Pope Clement VII of his master’s case. Set against the backdrop of war-torn Renaissance Italy, “Our Man in Rome” weaves together tales from the grubby underbelly of Tudor politics with a gripping family saga to reveal the extraordinary true story behind history’s most infamous divorce. Through six years of cajoling, threats and bribery, Casali lives by his wits. He manoeuvres his brothers into lucrative diplomatic postings, plays off one master against another, dodges spies, bandits and noblemen alike. But as the years pass and Henry’s case drags on, his loyalties are increasingly suspected. What will be Casali’s fate? Drawing on hundreds of unknown archive documents, “Our Man in Rome” reconstructs his tumultuous life among the great and powerful at this turning point for European history.
From the besieged Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome to the splendours of Greenwich Palace, we follow his trail in the service of Henry VIII. Lavish ceremony and glamorous parties stand in contrast to the daily strains of embassy life, as Casali pawns family silver to pay the bills, fights off rapacious in-laws and defends himself in the face of Anne Boleyn’s wrath. This vivid and compelling book will make us think anew about Henry, Catherine and the Tudor world.

This is an event promoted by Kenilworth Books for Kenilworth Festival. Tickets  available from Kenilworth Books, Warwick Books or the Festival Box Office £7.50 (£6 Concessions). We are grateful to the support of Vintage the publisher for enabling us to put on the event.

On Thursday 17th May 3pm

 at the Parochial Hall Kenilworth

Brian Clegg will be talking about his book

 ’The Universe Inside You’

Come and listen to super scientist Brian over afternoon tea talking about his new book ‘The Universe Inside You’. Learn all kinds of fascinating facts and mind-boggling science.  Built from the debris of exploding stars that floated through space for billions of years, home to a zoo of tiny aliens, and controlled by a brain with more possible connections than there are atoms in the universe, the human body is the most incredible thing in existence. In the sequel to his bestselling Inflight Science, Brian Clegg explores mitochondria, in-cell powerhouses which are thought to have once been separate creatures; how your eyes are quantum traps, consuming photons of light from the night sky that have travelled for millions of years; your many senses, which include the ability to detect warps in space and time, and why meeting an attractive person can turn you into a gibbering idiot. Listen to Brian and you’ll never look at yourself the same way again!

Brian has written ten other science titles, including Ecologic, The God Effect, Inflight Science and Before The Big Bang . He has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous magazines and newspapers, including Nature, BBC History, Good Housekeeping, The Times, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Physics World. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Norwegian, and Indonesian. He has given sell-out lectures at the Royal Institution in London and has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science. He has also contributed to many radio and TV programs. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

This is an event promoted by Kenilworth Books for Kenilworth Festival. Tickets  available from Kenilworth Books, Warwick Books or the Festival Box Office at £6 (to include light refreshments). We are grateful for the support of Icon Books the publisher for enabling us to put on the event.

 Tickets £6 from Kenilworth Books or Warwick Books. 

Suzannah Lipscomb will be talking about her new book ‘A Visitor’s Companion To Tudor England’ on Wednesday 16th May at 7pm in The Stables at Kenilworth Castle.

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb holds posts at the New College of Humanities and the University of East Anglia and her expertise on the tudor period has often been brought to bear on television and radio - from Time Team to the Today program. She has contributed to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and this is her third book.

‘A Visitor’s Companion  To Tudor England’ is both a practical handbook to fifty wonderful Tudor houses, palaces, castles and sites across England, and a colourful and intriguing  introduction to the key characters, stories and events of the Tudor age. If Hilary Mantel, a fastidious researcher herself, says “full of fascinating true stories… it helps us see the world as the Tudors must have seen it.’ it must be good!

Each site – from the Tower of London and Hever Castle, to Hampton Court Palace and Buckland Abbey – tells a wonderful story either about one of the Tudor monarchs, the key characters of the period – such as Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, Sir Francis Drake, Bess of Hardwick or William Shakespeare – or the stories and events of the period, including the Spanish Armada, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and ‘Bloody’ Mary’s Protestant martyrs. And ‘A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England’ is unique : no other book couples entertaining historical writing intended for a general adult readership – whilst drawing on the most up-to-date academic research – with a  gazetteer and guide to the key remaining Tudor sites. And, of course, it almost goes without saying that Suzannah covers both Shakespeare’s birthplace and our very location….Kenilworth Castle!

This is an event promoted by Kenilworth Books for Kenilworth Festival. Tickets will be available from Kenilworth Books, Warwick Books or the Festival Box Office £7.50 (£6 Concessions). We are grateful for the support of Ebury the publisher for enabling us to put on the event.

On Tuesday 15th May at 7pm

 in The Holiday Inn

Penny Junor will be talking about her new book

 ’Prince William’.

Penny Junor is a distinguished expert on the Royal Family and a trusted biographer, whose books about both the Prince and Princess of Wales, including ‘Charles: Victim or Villain?’ , the controversial biography that challenged Diana’s version of her marriage have established Penny’s reputation. She is a determined and perceptive writer and her drive to find out exactly who is William Wales – what drives and tempers him – will result in the first in-depth portrait of our future king. 

 ‘Prince William’ will be a wide-ranging and fascinating biography of this intensely private man and a glimpse into his world and into the impact that his traumatic childhood and adolescence have had on him. It will also look at how he sees the future and the kind of monarch he might be and how he will contribute to the society that ‘keeps’ him.

 This is a book eagerly anticipated because of the wealth of material Penny has had access to. There will be fascinating new anecdotes and stories of the Prince growing up, about his university years, his life in the military and his emergence as a fully-fledged working member of the family firm. Penny has also had unprecedented access to the Prince’s household and drawn on her experience and contacts built up in over thirty years of writing royal biographies. Key to this man, and to his future, is his relationship with the media. This has played a major part in his psyche since childhood and will be looked at at length. The other important relationships in his life: with his mother, his father, the Queen, his brother Harry, and of course, Kate and the Middleton family, will also be examined at length and given psychological analysis.

William is a highly complex and fascinating character who accepts the future that fate has mapped out for him but who is determined to remain in control of his life. He is a born leader with very firm views on how he might use his position for the good of the world. And he will lead with Harry by his side. They are a formidable duo and, according to Penny, as delightful, charming, funny, and unpretentious a pair as you could hope to meet. Kate herself has, of course, brought a new dimension to the relationship that is proving successful and popular around the world.

This is an event promoted by Kenilworth Books for Kenilworth Festival. Tickets available from Kenilworth Books, Warwick Books or the Festival Box Office £6. We are grateful to the support of Hodder the publisher for enabling us to put on the event. Picture credits to Les Wilson…

On Friday 11h May 7.30pm St Nicholas Church

Lindsey Davis will be talking about   

‘Master and God’

Lindsey Davis, best-selling author and winner of numerous awards, will be talking about ‘Master and God’ her new novel and a powerful story of a Roman Emperor, Domitian, and two of those closest to him. 

Gaius Vinius Clodianus is a reluctant Praetorian Guard, with a disastrous marriage history and post-traumatic stress – but he is a hero. Flavia Lucilla has given the imperial ladies a ridiculous hairstyle and makes toupees for the increasingly paranoid emperor – and she is good at her job. A devastating fire in Rome starts their story then a shared apartment brings them together, leading to a lifelong friendship, passion and love.

Together they watch Domitian’s once talented rule unravel into madness and cruelty, until the people closest to the Emperor conspire to delete him from history. As an imperial bodyguard, Gaius then faces an impossible dilemma, where the bloody outcome inevitably threatens his and Lucilla’s hopes of a future together and even their lives.

The novel’s reach stretches from the glories of monumental Rome to a prisoner-of-war camp above the snowline the wrong side of the frontier. Its settings include barracks and bars and quiet domestic rooms, the fabulous Flavian palace on the Palatine, Domitian’s fortress villa at Alba Longa, a villa that may have belonged to the poet Horace. It scoffs equally at the military life and poets. Even the doctor is paranoid.

As usual Lindsey brings Ancient Rome truly alive. She is a very popular speaker. Don’t miss it!

 This is an event promoted by Kenilworth Books for Kenilworth Festival. Tickets available from Kenilworth Books, Warwick Books or the Festival Box Office £6. We are grateful for the support of Hodder the publisher for enabling us to put on the event.