Thursday 2nd June 7pm at Lord Leycester’s Hospital Stephanie Williams will be talking about her new book ‘Running The Show : Governors of the British Empire 1857 – 1912′

What was it like to be a governor of a British colony? To be suddenly despatched across the world to a place of which you knew nothing? Who would do the job? How were they chosen? What were they actually doing, so far away from home?

Running the Show is a book about ordinary men, trying to do a job of work. Made up of episodes from the lives of governors serving around the world, it presents a kaleidoscope of people, places and events – and stories of how, for better or worse, attempts were made to order them. Drawing on private letters, diaries and Colonial Office dispatches, their stories will entertain, enlighten and surprise. At a time when the world has shrunk , when globalization has become the catchline of our times, and when in Britain people are beginning to look at the empire again, no longer so much in guilt as curiosity, Running the Show will throw new light on how the countries that once made up the British Empire came to be the way they are today.

Stephanie Williams talk will be fascinating and entertaining. Tickets £3.50 (£2 concessions) will be available from Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books.