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£10.00
DATE: Monday 9th June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
There is far more to be discovered about the Bayeux Tapestry than can be covered in one lecture. Who made it, where, and why are the most frequently asked questions, although they are not as important as the information the tapestry itself offers us. It is not just a narrative of the most famous battle in English history, but also of the build-up to it, setting the scene and introducing us to the main characters. It is a story of kings, chivalry and ambition, but it is also a moral story showing that good cannot come to those who break their word. Intriguingly, many crucial events are omitted and we can only speculate why. The presentation looks at many of the scenes in detail and explores what might be learned from this depiction of a turning point in our history.
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£15.00
DATE: Monday 8th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “The Players”, Minette Walters paints a picture of the huge unrest which ensues when the Duke of Monmouth arrives in Dorset in 1685 to incite rebellion against his uncle, King James II. The rebels will be charged with treason and those found guilty will be hanged, drawn and quartered. Compelling and powerful, “The Players” is a story of guile, deceit and compassion during the dark days of The Bloody Assizes. Secrets are kept and surprising friendships formed in a dangerous gamble to thwart a brutal king’s thirst for vengeance.
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£15.00
DATE: Sunday 7th June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Sarah Dunant’s most recent novel, published in 2025, is “The Marchesa”, a study of the great female Renaissance patron, Isabella d’Este. It is Renaissance history at its most vivid, an immersive, multi-layered experience that mixes historical fiction with biography, scholarship and art, images of both the people and the time. Sarah’s books are international best-sellers and have been translated into thirty languages.
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£10.00
DATE: Sunday 7th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
“The Spy and the Devil” is an account of Baron William de Ropp, a Baltic German aristocrat who was MI6’s top secret agent in Nazi Germany from 1931 to 1939. He had direct access to Hitler and an inside track on the Nazi regime and its objectives, and his reports back to Britain shaped British policy toward Germany in a pivotal period of history. The story of Bill de Ropp, as he was known, has never been published before: this book offers an insider’s view of this outstandingly effective but enigmatic British spy.
Sponsored By: Harper Dolman & West Insurance Ltd
