Event Details
- Location: Southwark Cathedral
- Address: London Bridge, London, SE1 9DA
- Start date: 22nd August 2026
- End date: 22nd August 2026
- Times: 10.00am-9.00pm
- Entry fee: £5
Southwark Cathedral’s 2026 History Book Festival brings authors together for a day of talks celebrating history’s stories, themes and voices.
Step into the past at Southwark Cathedral’s 2026 History Book Festival, where centuries of heritage provide the perfect backdrop for a celebration of historical storytelling.
This day will bring together authors whose work explores different eras, themes and perspectives from across history. Throughout the day, visitors can enjoy a rich programme of author talks, offering the chance to hear from leading historians and writes about the stories that shaped our world. From ancient to modern history, this festival highlights a diverse range of topics and voices. This event is part of Southwark Cathedral’s Social Justice Programme.
Programme
Nave
10.30am – 11.30am | Alison Weir: Six Tudor Queens: The Wives of Henry VIII
12 – 1pm | Siobhan Clarke: ‘Gloriana: Elizabeth I and the art of Queenship’
1.30pm – 2.30pm | Victoria Shepherd: ‘Stony Jack and the Lost Jewels of Cheapside’
Library
10am – 11am | Jo Durrant with guest Dr Elizabeth Norton: ‘Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy’
12 – 1pm | Anne Sebba: ‘Wallis Simpson, That Woman’
2pm – 3pm | Andrew Kenrick: ‘Rex Juba: 15 glimpses of an African King’
4pm – 5pm | Brian Groom: ‘These Isles’
6pm – 7pm | Dr Erica Canela: ‘Zealous: A darker side of the Early Quakers’
JTW Room
11.00am – 12:00 | Nicola Rayner: ‘The Paris Dancer’
12.30pm – 1.30pm | Jo Durrant with guest Melanie Backe-Hansen
2.30pm – 3.30pm | Nicholas Travers: ‘Victorian Britain: Day by Day’
4.30pm – 5.30pm | Barney Campbell: ‘The Fires of Gallipoli’
6pm – 7pm | Debbie Kilroy: ‘Members Behaving Badly’
Ticket Information
Tickets for individual talks cost £5, or you can save money attending multiple talks by purchasing a pass to every talk in the Nave for £12, every talk in the Library for £18, and every talk in the JTW room for £18.
