Beowulf is the greatest Anglo-Saxon epic, a tale of warriors, monsters and dragons. 
				
				The poem has inspired films and musicals, graphic novels and computer games. 
				
				All this is owed to the unique manuscript, which was nearly destroyed by fire in the 18th century. Julian Harrison, Curator of Medieval Manuscripts, explains.

Beowulf

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Deborah Moggach chairs a discussion with authors Philip Hensher, Hilary Spurling and Michael Frayn, to celebrate the launch of The Writing Life: Authors Speak two-CD publication. The writers, all interviewed for the ongoing oral history project Authors' Lives, discuss their writing processes, offer insights into their own creative practices and reflect on being interviewed for Authors' Lives. Recorded in the Conference Centre on 28 March 2011.

The Writing Life

Professor Philip Bobbitt, distinguished academic and author, who has both served the White House in senior government positions and lived there, with his uncle President Lyndon Baines Johnson, reflected on  global security and on the special relationship between the US and the UK. Sponsored by the Eccles Centre for American Studies. Recorded in the Conference Centre on 29 March 2011.

16th Annual Douglas W. Bryant Lecture

Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished letters and journals, Amanda Foreman, author of  A World on Fire, gives a fresh account of the Civil War through the extraordinary stories of many of the thousands of Britons who went to America as soldiers, observers, nurses, adventurers, guerrillas and spies. Sponsored by the Eccles Centre for American Studies. Recorded in the Conference Centre on 11 April 2011.

Tales of Heroism, Tales of Terror

The audience was invited to bring their favourite phrase, query or gripe for answers and discussion from our panel of language experts. With Victoria Coren and Peter Gilliver. Recorded in the British Library Conference Centre on 5 December 2010.

English Language Question Time

A packed auditorium joined poet Don Paterson, Ben Crystal, Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen for an evening of appreciation and exploration of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Introduced by Roger Walshe. Accompanies the Evolving English exhibition. Recorded in the British Library Conference Centre on 2 February 2011.

Shakespeare's Sonnets

British Library Podcasts

Beowulf

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