History

Horatio Morpurgo - The Port Bredy Lecture

Port Bredy was the name Thomas Hardy gave Bridport. The annual Port Bredy Lecture aims to celebrate Hardy and other writers with connections to West Dorset. Beginning with Hardy’s Bridport-set tale ‘Fellow-Townsmen’, which reaches its fateful conclusion at the Bull Hotel, Horatio Morpurgo considers how the author understood a rural society turned upside down by the coming of the railways, one in which the “outside world” was both an opportunity and a threat. What lessons might Dorset’s greatest writer have for the 21st century’s Wessex-dwellers as they also deal with with a fast-changing world? Horatio Morpurgo is an activist and writer on the environment. His new book is A Guide to the Unconformity.

Luke Pepera - Motherland - A Journey Through 5,000 Years of African History

For centuries, Africa’s kaleidoscopic history has been viewed through a narrow, often colonial lens – but its true heritage spans an astonishing 500,000 years. Join historian, archaeologist, and broadcaster Luke Pepera as he discusses his groundbreaking book, Motherland. A brilliant presenter of his subject, Pepera brings to life a remarkable cast of characters, from the wealthiest rulers of the ancient world to fierce warrior queens who defeated the Romans. Moving effortlessly between ancient empires and modern pop culture, he reveals how African history shapes our world today. “Wonderful and illuminating … an essential read”, Simon Sebag Montefiore.