Expert on the Romans Mary Beard leads historians' charge to Scarboroughs' Books by the Beach
Historians are making a beeline to Scarborough to appear at its literature festival based at Queen Street Methodist Central Hall and which runs from Friday June 5 to Sunday June 7.
Best-selling author Sinclair McKay discusses his new book, Dad’s Army on Saturday June 6 at 12.30pm.
The BBC sitcom of the same name featured a group of charming incompetents b
ut in reality, members of the Home Guard of the 1940s were tained, courageous and often pioneering. At its height, this voluntary force of men and women consisted of almost two million volunteers prepared to defend every corner of the kingdom.
Members included authors George Orwell, AA Milne and CS Lewis. Many volunteers had fought in the First World War and radical veterans from the Spanish Civil War taught new techniques in guerrilla fighting.
Chocolate-box village greens throughout the country were reimagined as bloody battlefields, with duties including rifle and mortar training, night-time patrols and manning anti-aircraft guns - all on top of their day jobs.
Yet it was underpinned by an essential good humour and camaraderie vital for keeping up a defiant spirit. This event is relevant to Scarborough where many structures were built along the coast in 1940 to 41 to resist invasion.
These included pillboxes, anti-tank walls and cubes. Sinclair is a renowned historian with a number of previous books including Meeting Churchill and The Secret Life of Bletchley Park.
The festival plays host to two more historians on the Sunday. Political expert David Torrance introduces his new book The Edge of Revolution at 1pm.
David will be in conversation with former MP Alan Johnson. On Tuesday 4 May 1926, two million workers downed tools in one of the few nationwide strikes ever held in Britain.
The General Strike has now entered our national mythology. Even though it lasted only nine days, it left a legacy that has had a profound impact on modern-day politics and100 years on David and Alan will share this unique and pivotal episode in British history with Scarborough audiences.
The festival finale features Mary Beard, one of the most acclaimed classicists working today.
Mary is the Professor Emerita of Classics at Cambridge and the Classics editor of the TLS. She is also the co-host, with Charlotte Higgins, of the podcast Instant Classics. Her previous books include the bestselling Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii.
She will be sharing her new book Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old. What’s exciting about a piece of bread 4,000 years old? Or some pots of paint abandoned in the eruption of Pompeii? Mary will discuss such questions and more with fellow author Alan Johnson at 8pm.
Tickets, including day passes, are on sale at YMCA Theatre box office and online at www.booksbythebeach.co.uk