By The British Library
Audio from the British Library
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...
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...
Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished letters and journals, Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire, gives a fresh account of the Civil War through the extraordinary stories of many of the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...
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.
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...
What do Winston Churchill, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charlton Heston and Melvyn Bragg have in common? They all said that no book has had greater influence on the English language than the King James Bible. Professor David Crystal asks 'is it...
Curator Jonnie Robinson presents recordings that explore the ever-changing regional contrasts of the English Language. With discussion from a panel of experts. Accompanies the Evolving English exhibition. Recorded in the British Library Conference Centre on 23 February 2011.
Simon Gikandi explores the effect that the spread of the English language through colonisation has had on the lives of African people. Accompanies the Evolving English exhibition. Recorded in the British Library Conference Centre on 28 February 2011.
Steven Pinker discusses the interplay of language and the mind and how psychological processes have shaped the English language. Introduced by Jonnie Robinson. Accompanies the Evolving English exhibition. Recorded in the British Library Conference Centre on 10 January 2011.
A panel comprising C.P. Lee, Barry Cryer, Lucy Greeves, Tim Vine and Richard Wiseman discusses the mechanics of comedy at the British Library conference 'What's So Funny? The Languages of Laughter'. Accompanies the Evolving English exhibition. Recorded in the British...
American Poet and actor Saul Williams, a legendary voice of hip hop, talks with two of the sharpest UK artists, Akala and Lowkey, about how words impact at street level. Warning: adult content. Occasional very strong language. Recorded in the...
Evolving English shows very clearly that there is no single story of the English language. David Crystal explores aspects of its evolution. Introduced by Roger Walshe. Accompanies the British Library's Evolving English exhibition. Recorded in the British Library Conference Centre...
Commentators have been arguing about the role of social class in determining life chances for many years. The concept of 'class' seems to have become increasingly complex, while at the same time we continue to see significant differentials in life...
The 2010 series of Panizzi lectures, given by James Raven offers fresh perspectives on the early modern and 18th-century book trade in England. London dominated this industry, but relatively little has been known about the commercial environments in which books...
Frequently characterised as ‘racial riots’, the uprisings of the 1980s in Bristol, Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side were significant reactions to the politics of late 20th-century Britain. This discussion brought together key witnesses to reflect on the context and legacy...
Ann Mroz, editor of Times Higher Education, chairs a lively discussion on the future of university and research libraries with Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Newnham College, University of Cambridge; Clive Bloom, Emeritus Professor of English at Middlesex University;...
Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist for Google Maps and Steve Chilton from OpenStreetMap discuss recent developments. From the Magnificent Maps events series, recorded live in the Conference Centre on 7 September 2010.
Dr David Starkey and Peter Barber, Head of Map Collections at the British Library, discuss the importance of maps in medieval and early modern palaces, and how they combined art, science, and power to enhance their impact. From the Magnificent Maps...
The election of Barack Obama was greeted with enthusiasm at home and abroad. Has his administration seen a reverse of the anti-Americanism of the Bush years? Simon Jenkins is well known for his columns in the Guardian and the Evening...
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...
Stephen Hebron discusses his new book, exploring what Keats's letters and poems reveal about him and his creative process. Interviewed by Ellie Russell. Published by British Library Publishing, £25.00.
Producers John and Lisel Gale are interviewed by Rebecca Novell, and Iain Mackintosh, who founded Oxford's Prospect Theatre Company, talks with Dr Alec Patton. Introduced by Jamie Andrews, Head of Modern Literary Manuscripts. From the 2009 Theatre Archive Project live...
In 1987, Ken Livingstone, former head of the recently abolished Greater London Council (GLC), discussed the need to reform the political system at the Institute of Contemporary Arts as part of the ongoing ICA Talks series. Two decades on, we...
Alison Weir is one of Britain's best-loved and most-read historians. Her works include The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Henry VIII: King and Court and Mary, Queen of Scots. Her next book will be a detailed account of the dramatic...
Cheryl Tipp, curator of Wildlife for the British Library Sound Archive, discusses the British Mammals CD which contains 26 recordings of a variety of mammals found across the British Isles. Recordings include the calls of species such as the Red...
In the third and final lecture of this enthralling series David Starkey examines the paradox of Henry's life. For the divorce from Katherine of Aragon and break from Rome, which wrecked his character, also laid the foundations for the great...
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Dr Juan Garcés of the British Library...
Geoff Dyer - novelist, writer, and author of Ways of Telling: the Work of John Berger - talks to Head of Modern Literary Manuscripts Jamie Andrews, on the eve of Berger's donation of his archive to the Library.
In this lively, compelling and opinionated lecture - the second of three - Dr Starkey looks at the change in Henry: from the ideal prince at the time of his accession, with his high ideals of virtue, glory and immortality,...
This book of psalms was Henry's personal copy, used for private devotion. The rich illustrations show how he wanted to be seen as a modern-day King David, a pious harpist slaying the Goliath of the papacy. His marginal notes on...
In this lively, compelling and opinionated lecture - the first of three - Dr Starkey examines Henry VIII's upbringing as a second son, his education and induction into chivalry, the dominant figures of his childhood and youth, the tensions with...
A previously unseen George Harrison lyric, found by author and collector Hunter Davies, has gone on display. Written in early 1967 when George was 23 or 24, the untitled song was penned at a time when The Beatles had stopped...
Brett Dolman of Historic Royal Palaces describes it as 'half international summit, half It's A Knockout' in this fascinating and lively talk, recorded at Hampton Court Palace. The extraordinary campsite carnival of 1520 spawned tales of excess and hedonism to...
Among Henry VIII's less-recognised achievements was to pioneer modern cartography. Tudor maps expert Peter Barber explains how Henry changed maps, and how maps changed England. Introduced by Andrea Clarke.
Music was a vital part of young King Henry VIII's life. Hear music written for him, including the Rose Canon in full, and some of Henry's own compositions. Experts discuss him, his musical world, and its significance. With Nicolas Bell...
The British Library has acquired the complete extant literary archive of Graham Swift. Here he talks with Head of Modern Literary Manuscripts Jamie Andrews about his thoughts on seeing his archive transferred to the national collections. He also discusses his...
Britain gave its former colonies constitutions – but hasn't got round to writing one itself. What shape are our freedoms and rights in today, 800 years after Magna Carta? Not a very good one, say Professor AC Grayling, and exhibition...
From a series of events to accompany the Taking Liberties exhibition. Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, asks why human rights has such a bad press when it's such a good thing – and talks about...
From a series of events to accompany the Taking Liberties exhibition. Panel debate on where the ceiling is on our freedoms and rights when we must decrease emissions of greenhouse gases. With Dr Gabrielle Walker; Simon Retallack (Institute for Public...
Since December 2003, the British Library Sound Archive has been a partner in the Surface Scanning of Archived Sound Recordings research project at the University of Southampton. Professor John McBride, the project's manager and Nigel Bewley, head sound engineer in the Sound Archive,...
Dr Saad Eskander, head of the Iraq National Library and Archive, became known for his remarkable online diary in 2006-07 on the extraordinary challenges of running a library in Baghdad during a time of conflict. At this ceremony he receives...
From a series of events to accompany the Taking Liberties exhibition. In this fascinating lecture, Professor Nicholas Vincent – author and Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, and one of the world's leading experts on Magna...
Shami Chakrabarti talks to Joan Bakewell in this interview recorded at the British Library on 31 October 2008, part of the Taking Liberties exhibition events series. Chakrabarti talks in detail about how quick-fix legislation, which has created 3000 new offences...
Curator Kristian Jensen discusses the 1957 Wolfenden Report, which caused controversy upon its appearance for recommending that homosexual acts between consenting adults in private be legalised, but which led not only to a change in law but also public attitudes
Curator Matthew Shaw discusses Thomas Paine's radical 1791 text The Rights of Man: its political background in the English and French Revolutions, the response to Burke, its remarkable reception at the time, and its pioneering vision of social welfare and...
Richard Fairman of the British Library Sound Archive discusses The Spoken Word – British Writers and The Spoken Word – American Writers: CD sets containing rare and previously unpublished recordings of famous and influential authors. Includes discussion and audio clips of...
Curator Matthew Shaw talks about some of the remarkable documents on show in the Library's forthcoming exhibition on Britain's struggle for freedoms and rights (31 Oct 2008 - 1 Mar 2009): from Magna Carta, through the Rights of Man and...
Curator Jamie Andrews introduces the Library's free new display The Golden Generation, which features audio, video, manuscripts and more from the vibrant postwar age of British theatre 1945-1968. The podcast includes fascinating interview snippets with some of the people working at...
