23rd–29th June 2025 - Broad Chalke, Salisbury

We are delighted to present a Christmas offer from Waterstones
of a 10% discount on the books written by authors who were due to speak at the 2020 Festival

Click on a title below and give the code from our newsletter

David Abulafia THE BOUNDLESS SEA: THE HUMAN HISTORY OF THE OCEANS

Richard Atkinson MR ATKINSON’S RUM CONTRACT: THE STORY OF A TANGLED INHERITANCE

Antony Beevor ARNHEM: THE BATTLE FOR THE BRIDGES, 1944

Martin Bell WAR AND PEACEKEEPING: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON CONFLICT AND LASTING PEACE

Tracy Borman THE FALLEN ANGEL

Tim Bouverie APPEASING HITLER: CHAMBERLAIN, CHURCHILL AND THE ROAD TO WAR

Richard Buccleuch DRUMLANRIG: THE CASTLE, ITS PEOPLE AND ITS PAINTINGS

Ursula Buchan BEYOND THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS: A LIFE OF JOHN BUCHAN

Peter Caddick-Adams SAND AND STEEL: A NEW HISTORY OF D-DAY

Jung Chang BIG SISTER, LITTLE SISTER, RED SISTER: THREE WOMEN AT THE HEART OF TWENTIETH CENTURY CHINA

Tracy Chevalier A SINGLE THREAD

Tony Claydon THE REVOLUTION IN TIME: CHRONOLOGY, MODERNITY, AND 1688-89 IN ENGLAND

Patrick Cordingley CAPTAIN OATES

Chris Culpin SHP HISTORY YEAR 8

Danièle Cybulskie LIFE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE: FACT AND FICTION

William Dalrymple THE ANARCHY: THE RELENTLESS RISE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY

Lewis Dartnell ORIGINS: HOW THE EARTH SHAPED HUMAN HISTORY

Saul David CRUCIBLE OF HELL: OKINAWA – STALINGRAD OF THE PACIFIC

Daisy Dunn IN THE SHADOW OF VESUVIUS: A LIFE OF PLINY

Patricia Fara A LAB OF ONE’S OWN: SCIENCE AND SUFFRAGE IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Jonathan Fennell FIGHTING THE PEOPLE’S WAR: THE BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH ARMIES AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Catherine Fletcher BEAUTY AND THE TERROR: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Joanna Foat LUMBERJILLS: BRITAIN’S FORGOTTEN ARMY

Helen Fry THE WALLS HAVE EARS: THE GREATEST INTELLIGENCE OPERATION OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Johnnie Gallop A MEMORY OF LIES

Ben Garrod SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT TYRANNOSAURUS REX?

Peter Gatrell THE UNSETTLING OF EUROPE: THE GREAT MIGRATION, 1945 TO THE PRESENT

Anne Glenconner LADY-IN-WAITING: MY EXTRAORDINARY LIFE IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROWN

Jane Glover HANDEL IN LONDON: THE MAKING OF A GENIUS

Mark Goldie ROBERT MORRICE AND THE PURITAN WHIGS: THE ENTRING BOOK, 1677-1691

Thomas Grant COURT NUMBER ONE: THE TRIALS AND SCANDALS THAT SHOCKED MODERN BRITAIN

Peter Grimsdale WHEN BRITAIN RULED THE ROADS

Joanna Grochowicz AMUNDSEN’S WAY: THE RACE TO THE SOUTH POLE

Loyd Grossman AN ELEPHANT IN ROME: BERNINI, THE POPE AND THE MAKING OF THE ETERNAL CITY

Robert Hardman QUEEN OF THE WORLD

John Hare PARADISE DAMNED: THE TRAGEDY OF LAKE TURKANA

Max Hastings CHASTISE: THE DAMBUSTERS STORY 1943

Sudhir Hazareesingh BLACK SPARTACUS: THE EPIC LIFE OF TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE

Simon Heffer STARING AT GOD: BRITAIN IN THE GREAT WAR

Henry Hemming OUR MAN IN NEW YORK: THE BRITISH PLOT TO BRING AMERICA INTO THE SECOND WORLD WAR

John Hemming PEOPLE OF THE RAINFOREST: THE VILLAS BOAS BROTHERS, EXPLORERS AND HUMANITARIANS OF THE AMAZON

James Heneage BY BLOOD DIVIDED

Charlie Higson THE END (THE ENEMY BOOK 7)

Julian Hight BRITAIN’S ANCIENT FOREST: LEGEND AND LORE

James Holland NORMANDY ’44

Tom Holland DOMINION: THE MAKING OF THE WESTERN MIND

Robert Hutton AGENT JACK: THE TRUE STORY OF MI5’S SECRET NAZI HUNTER

Dan Jones CRUSADERS: AN EPIC HISTORY OF THE WARS OF THE HOLY LANDS

Ben Kane LIONHEART

Tessa Keswick THE COLOUR OF THE SKY AFTER RAIN

Clement Knox STRANGE ANTICS: A HISTORY OF SEDUCTION

Alex Langlands CRAEFT: HOW TRADITIONAL CRAFTS ARE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST MAKING

Norman Leberecht GENIUS AND ANXIETY: HOW JEWS CHANGED THE WORLD 1847-1947

Hermione Lee TOM STOPPARD: A LIFE

Andrew Lownie THE MOUNTBATTENS: THEIR LIVES AND LOVES

Lara Maiklem MUDLARK: IN SEARCH OF LONDON’S PAST ALONG THE THAMES

Justin Marozzi ISLAMIC EMPIRES: FIFTEEN CITIES THAT DEFINE A CIVILISATION

Simon Mayall SOLDIER IN THE SAND: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Frank McDonough THE HITLER YEARS: DISASTER 1940-1945

Leo McKinstry ATTLEE AND CHURCHILL: ALLIES IN WAR, ADVERSARIES IN PEACE

David Miles THE LAND OF THE WHITE HORSE

Amanda Mitchison THE STORY OF ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL: THE MAN WHO BUILT BRITAIN

Charles Moore MARGARET THATCHER: HERSELF ALONE

Roger Moorhouse FIRST TO FIGHT: THE POLISH WAR 1939

Robert Morrison THE REGENCY REVOLUTION: JANE AUSTEN, LORD BYRON AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

Al Murray THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS (GIVE OR TAKE) AND ALL THAT

James Naughtie ON THE ROAD: AMERICAN ADVENTURES FROM NIXON TO TRUMP

Michael Neiberg POTSDAM: THE END OF WORLD WAR II AND THE REMAKING OF EUROPE

Ariana Neumann WHEN TIME STOPPED: A MEMOIR OF MY FATHER’S WAR AND WHAT REMAINED

Patricia & Jean Owtram CODEBREAKING SISTERS: OUR SECRET WAR

Phillips Payson O’Brien HOW THE WAR WAS WON: AIR-SEA POWER AND ALLIED VICTORY IN WORLD WAR II

Thomas Penn THE BROTHERS YORK: AN ENGLISH TRAGEDY

Jess Phillips TRUTH TO POWER: HOW TO CALL TIME ON BULLSH*T, SPEAK UP & MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Agnès Poirier NOTRE-DAME: THE SOUL OF FRANCE

Edward Posnett HARVEST: THE HISTORY OF SEVEN NATURAL OBJECTS

Diana Preston EIGHT DAYS AT YALTA: HOW CHURCHILL, ROOSEVELT AND STALIN SHAPED THE POST-WAR WORLD

Samir Puri THE GREAT IMPERIAL HANGOVER: HOW EMPIRES HAVE SHAPED THE WORLD

Alexandra Richie WARSAW 1944; HITLER, HIMMLER AND THE CRUSHING OF A CITY

Sophy Roberts THE LOST PIANOS OF SIBERIA

Hallie Rubenhold THE FIVE: THE UNTOLD LIVES OF THE WOMEN KILLED BY JACK THE RIPPER

Adam Rutherford HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST: HISTORY, SCIENCE, RACE AND REALITY

Philippe Sands THE RATLINE: LOVE, LIES AND JUSTICE ON THE TRAIL OF A NAZI FUGITIVE

Jonathan Schneer THE LOCKHART PLOT: LOVE, BETRAYAL, ASSASSINATION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN LENIN’S RUSSIA

Timothy Schroder A MARVEL TO BEHOLD: GOLD AND SILVER AT THE COURT OF HENRY VIII

Gary Sheffield IN HAIG’S SHADOW: BRIGADIER-GENERAL HUGO DE PREE AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Rebecca Simon WHY WE LOVE PIRATES: THE HUNT FOR CAPTAIN KIDD AND HOW HE CHANGED PIRACY FOREVER

Emma Southon AGRIPPINA: EMPRESS, EXILE, HUSTLER, WHORE

Dan Snow ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Tom Stoppard LEOPOLDSTADT

Julie Summers DRESSED FOR WAR: THE STORY OF AUDREY WITHERS VOGUE EDITOR,  FROM THE BLITZ TO THE SWINGING SIXTIES

Kate Thompson SECRETS OF THE HOME FRONT GIRLS

Laura Thompson TAKE SIX GIRLS: THE LIVES OF THE MITFORD SISTERS

Stella Tillyard GEORGE IV: KING IN WAITING

Alan Titchmarsh MARIGOLDS, MYRTLE AND MOLES

Daniel Todman BRITAIN’S WAR: A NEW WORLD 1942-1947

John Turner BOOM OR BUST: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF FINANCIAL BUBBLES

Mark Urban THE SKRIPAL FILES: THE LIFE AND NEAR DEATH OF A RUSSIAN SPY

Hester Vaizey BORN IN THE GDR: LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE WALL

Annabel Venning TO WAR WITH THE WALKERS

Nicholas Vincent JOHN: AN EVIL KING?

Graham Viney THE LAST HURRAH: THE 1947 ROYAL TOUR OF SOUTHERN AFRICA AND THE END OF THE EMPIRE

Christopher Whatley IMMORTAL MEMORY: BURNS AND THE SCOTTISH PEOPLE

Rowland White: HARRIER 809: BRITAIN’S LEGENDARY JUMP JET AND THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FALKLANDS WAR

Abigail Williams THE SOCIAL LIFE OF BOOKS: READING TOGETHER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOME

Rowan Williams THE BOOK OF TALIESIN

A. N. Wilson PRINCE ALBERT: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE MONARCHY

Andrew Ziminski THE STONEMASON: A HISTORY OF BUILDING BRITAIN

Other popular ideas for Christmas presents include festival gift vouchers for tickets to next year, or future years’ festivals,  Friends memberships, or even treat someone to the premium Plantagenet Club membership.