With Britain’s failing prison system hitting the headlines again and again, Ian Acheson’s talk at Bridport Literary Festival in November couldn’t be more timely.

He’s a former UK prison governor and Home Office official with expertise in security, safety, and reform. He leads the Counter Extremism Project’s research on Islamist extremism, risk management, deradicalisation, and reintegration of terrorist offenders.

His book, Screwed, is the inside story of the collapse of His Majesty’s Prison Service, told by someone who had a front-row seat to it all.

Acheson went from officer to Governor in less than a decade, and during that time he witnessed the uniformed organisation he was proud to serve crumble into lethal disarray.

This uncompromisingly brutal account exposes the politics and operational decisions that have driven our prisons to a state where rats roam freely, prisoners are forced to use slop buckets, violence and intimidation are normalised and it is easier to get a bag of heroin than a bar of soap.

However, Acheson concludes that the crisis can be fixed. He outlines a new corporate culture and mission that puts its faith in the officers who walk the landings every day, with order restored, potential rescued, society safeguarded.

You can see him at The Bull Hotel on 4 November at 10.30am.

In stark contrast, Daisy Dunn has rewritten the history of the ancient world through women’s eyes.

Dubbed ‘the next Mary Beard’, The Observer believes The Missing Thread ‘feels like a book for our times and for all time’.

‘She tells the story of how the classical world, so long discussed through the prism of the men who lived in it, should be reassessed through its influential and fascinating female inhabitants instead. By turns authoritative, witty and revelatory.’

Dr Daisy Dunn is an award-winning classicist and author of seven books. Her previous book, Not Far from Brideshead: Oxford between the Wars, a classicist’s portrait of the university city, was a Waterstones, Daily Telegraph and Independent book of the year, selected for Radio 4’s Open Book, and longlisted for the Runciman Award.

You can see her at The Sir John Colfox Academy on Thursday 7 November at 2pm.

In The End of Summer, spy’s granddaughter Charlotte Philby has written a gripping nuanced literary thriller which exposes the secrets and lies so many mother/ daughter relationships have to come to terms with.

A Sunday Times thriller of the month, the novel is described by the newspaper as ‘an enthralling, multilayered triumph’.

The Mail on Sunday says of the book, ‘a skilful, atmospheric thriller with a truly memorable central character’.

You can see her at The Bull Hotel on Tuesday 5 November at 12 noon.

Andrew Pierce’s story of finding his birth mother is an incredible tale of fortitude, sadness, heartbreak and reconciliation.

Broadcaster Jeremy Vine says Finding Margaret is ‘a warm and vivid read that shows how untidy life can be but that everything can be healed with love. This wickedly gossipy journalist will melt your heart with his own story.’

Pierce is a columnist, consultant editor for the Daily Mail and TV presenter. He is a regular each week on Good Morning Britain. He also has his own show on GB News, Britain’s Newsroom, every Monday to Thursday.

Says Vanessa Feltz: ‘Finding Margaret is a moving odyssey of disappointment, yearning, seeking, detective work and ultimately self-discovery. Andrew Pierce’s crisp prose propels the reader on a perilous voyage, sometimes verging on the unbearable. Purchase a box of tissues before embarkation.’

To start the Bridport Literary Week, which runs from 3 to 9 November, check out Cider with Jessie, when the Ciderhouse Rebellion duo of Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger are joined by Adam’s daughter, the poet Jessie Summerhayes.

They collectively create an immersive and expansive collection of folk-poems, woven between and around spontaneously created music.

Their latest work, Tales of Colonsay, is inspired by stunning landscapes and awe-inspiring seascapes – a brand new journey in spoken word, deeply connected to the land.

The event at Sladers Yard, West Bay, on Sunday 3 November at 12 noon is followed by the option of a delicious lunch from the Sladers kitchen.

  • To book tickets for BridLit events, go to the festival website – bridlit.com – or contact Bridport Tourist Information Centre in Bucky Doo Square or call them on 01308 424901.