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The Festival: 6 - 14 November 2026 | Tickets: 01308 424901|bridport.tic@bridport-tc.gov.uk
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Event 15

Sunday 8 November 2026 | 2.30pm

Event 15 | Matthew Sweet | The Great Dictator
Event 15 | Matthew Sweet | The Great Dictator - Image 2

Event 15 | Matthew Sweet | The Great Dictator

£16.50

Matthew Sweet – The Great Dictator – A Life of Barbara Cartland

Penniless virgins. Reckless dukes. Flappers. Airmen. Suffragettes. Barbara Cartland made them all fall in love. She wrote 723 books without touching a typewriter: instead she reclined on her sofa with a Pekinese on her lap, and romantic fiction billowed out of her. Making use of unprecedented access to Cartland’s archives, broadcaster Matthew Sweet’s wickedly funny biography reveals the woman behind the mascara. After 49 proposals, she chose the wrong man; what followed was a life stranger than any novel, including terrorist plots, seances, plagiarism battles, and even a surprise turn as a campaigner for Romany rights. Chaired by Vivian French.

Priority booking opens Friday 28 August, while general booking opens on Friday 11 September. Become a Friend today and enjoy two weeks of priority booking, giving you first access to the programme. Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets – 01308 424901.

When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 2.30 pm
Where: Electric Palace
Sponsored by: Susan Bradbury
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Description

Matthew Sweet is co-writer, with Mark Gatiss, of the TV detective series Bookish. He is the author of Inventing the Victorians (Faber, 2001), Shepperton Babylon (Faber, 2005), The West End Front (Faber, 2011) and Operation Chaos (Picador 2018). His novel, The New Forest Murders was published in 2025.

Matthew presents Free Thinking on BBC Radio 4. His 25 years of broadcasting include 12 years of Sound of Cinema (Radio 3), five series of The Philosopher’s Arms (BBC Radio 4) and 1922: The Birth of Now, a 10-part history of modernism (BBC Radio 4). He is a Public Humanities Fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London.

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