Upcoming Events
Chalke Valley History Festival 2022
The Chalke Valley History Festival in Wiltshire covers a broad swathe of history as well as living history and welcomes some of the finest talent in the country – including some of our very own guest speakers.
We are delighted to be sponsoring the following events during this year’s festival and we hope to see you there.
Tuesday 21st June 15.45-16.45
SHACKLETON'S ENDURANCE: AN ANTARCTIC SURVIVAL STORY
Joanna Grochowicz
While conveying the beautiful, harsh environment of the Antarctic, Joanna Grochowicz will give a gripping account of how, adrift on the pack ice with no means of escape and no hope of rescue, Ernest Shackleton and his men seemed doomed. In January 1915, his ship, the Endurance, became locked in pack ice and later, it sank, without a trace until its dramatic discovery earlier this year. To survive, Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men had to undertake a trial even more extreme than their planned crossing of the frozen continent. This vivid tale of survival against massive odds, will show Shackleton's extraordinary leadership skills.
Wednesday 22nd June 12.00-13.00
THE HABSBURGS: THE RISE AND FALL OF A WORLD POWER
Martyn Rady
Martyn Rady will tell the epic story of a dynasty and the world it built - and then lost - over nearly a millennium. From modest origins, the Habsburgs grew in power to gain control of the Holy Roman Empire in the fifteenth century. Then, in just a few decades, their possessions rapidly expanded to take in a large part of Europe stretching from Hungary to Spain, and from the Far East to the New World. The family continued to dominate Central Europe until the catastrophe of the First World War.
Sunday 26th June 12.15-13.15
THE ANARCHY: THE RELENTLESS RISE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
William Dalrymple
In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish a new administration in his richest provinces. Run by English merchants who collected taxes using a ruthless private army, this new regime saw the East India Company transform itself from an international trading corporation into something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business. William Dalrymple will tell the remarkable story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.