Event 36

This instant Sunday Times bestseller — recently shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Conservation —  is for readers interested in history, travel and how we treat animals.  In an illustrated talk featuring film and images by the multi-award winning photographer Michael Turek, author and journalist Sophy Roberts will take the audience behind the scenes to reveal how her latest book evolved — including where it all  began in Ireland, when she stumbled across the long-forgotten story of an 1879 expedition to Africa. A Training School for Elephants unlikely cast of characters include four loveable Asian elephants shipped from India to the East African coast and marched inland towards Congo. It was part of an ill-conceived idea of King Leopold II of Belgium to plunder Africa’s rich resources. By following in the expedition’s footsteps, she reveals an extraordinary and moving story, her pursuit of the ghosts of history also taking her to Belgium, India, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.