Tales of Youth | The Big History Night In

Join us for an unforgettable evening at Tales of Youth: The Big History Night In - By Candlelight!

'Tales of Youth' is a unique opportunity to gather with friends and family to explore the captivating tales that have shaped our world. Immerse yourself in an enchanting atmosphere, as we dim the lights and set the stage aglow with the warm flicker of candles.

Throughout the 3-hours, historians, storytellers, and performers will transport you back in time, regaling you with stories of triumphs, tragedies, and extraordinary adventures. From ancient civilizations to modern revolutions, you'll discover the secrets and wonders of the past, all while enjoying the company of fellow history enthusiasts.

Join us at Southwark Cathedral for this evening of history with some of the UK's most loved and best-selling historians who will be highlighting how young people have helped shape history, from the royal courts of Tudor England to scavenging on the River Thames foreshore during Victorian times , discover the secrets of the past as we unravel mysteries, uncover hidden treasures, and shed light on forgotten events.

Whether you are a history buff, a curious learner, or simply want to spend an enjoyable and educational evening Tales of Youth: The Big History Night In is the perfect event for you.

This event will raise awareness of the important work that charity PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide do in the UK today. PAPYRUS are dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. A percentage of ticket sales from the evening will be donated to PAPYRUS and there will be opportunities to donate to this important charity directly on the on the evening.

F or further information about the work and support that PAPYRUS provide please visit their website.

H osted by historian Dr Nicola Tallis this is an event not to be missed for all you history lovers!

T his event is in-person only and won't be streamed or recorded.

O ur Speakers;

Each speaker will be talking about their specialist subject for 15 minutes. The evening will run from 6.15pm - 10.00pm with a couple of 20 minute breaks in the evening. Doors will open at 5.30pm.

Dr T racy Borman - How to Raise a Royal

Tracy Borman is a best selling author, historian and broadcaster, specialising in the Tudor period. Her books include Elizabeth’s Women, Thomas Cromwell, The Private Lives of the Tudors and Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy from William the Conqueror to Charles III. She has also written a fiction trilogy, The King’s Witch, based in the court of James I. Her latest non fiction book is Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History (Hodder & Stoughton, 19 May 2023)

Tracy is also joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust and Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University in her native Lincoln. She has presented a number of history programmes for Channel 5 and the Smithsonian Channel, including The Fall of Anne Boleyn, Inside the Tower of London and Henry VIII and the King’s Men. She is a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine and gives talks on her books across the country and abroad.

Tracy will be speaking at 6.25pm.

Dr Janina Ramirez - Why Rediscovering Women from the Past can Help Shape a Better Future.

Dr Janina Ramirez is an Oxford cultural historian, documentary-maker and best-selling author of 'Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages Through the Women Written Out of it'. She has been making television documentaries for 15 years and is passionate about engaging diverse audiences with the past.

Janina will be speaking at 6.40pm.

Helen Carr - 'What is History, Now?'

Helen Carr is an award nominated writer, historian and podcaster specialising in medieval history and public history. Author of the best-selling, The Red Prince: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, published in spring 2021 and listed in the Times and Sunday Times best books of 2021. The Red Prince was shortlisted for the prestigious 2022 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. Co-author and editor of What is History, Now? (W&N): A follow up to What is History? (1961) by her great-grandfather, the historian, E.H Carr.

Helen’s next book, This England, will be published by Hutchinson Heinemann (Penguin Random House) in 2024.

Helen writes a monthly column for BBC History Magazine, contributes to the TLS, The Spectator, Unherd and The New Statesman. She has appeared as an expert on television and radio and has also produced and hosted the chart topping podcast, Hidden Histories as well as hosted podcasts for BBC History. Helen has broadcast for CNN, NBC, Sky and CityTV covering the British Royal Family.

Helen is an elected fellow of the Royal Historical Society and currently with Queen Mary University London.

Helen will be speaking at 6.55pm.

Lara Maiklem - Victorian Child Mudlarks

Lara Maiklem is a mudlark. She wanders the shores of the River Thames at low tide searching for lost and forgotten objects that tell tales of the past and bring forgotten Londoners to life.

Lara never digs or uses a metal detector and she often walks little more than a mile in 5 hours, yet she can travel 2,000 years back in time through the objects that are revealed by the tide. Prehistoric flint tools, medieval pilgrim badges, Tudor shoes, Georgian wig curlers and Victorian pottery, ordinary objects left behind by the ordinary people who made London what it is today.

In 2012, Lara became the first person to share mudlarking with the world on social media as ‘The London Mudlark’. What began as an anonymous time filler between feeding, burping and changing baby twins quickly attracted followers and media attention and she has now written two books – the Sunday Times bestseller Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames (Bloomsbury, 2019) and A Field Guide to Larking: Beachcombing, Mudlarking, Fieldwalking and More (Bloomsbury, 2021). She's written for newspapers and magazines and they have written about her, she's appeared on radio and television and she's also consulted for books and television. In 2022 she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (founded 1707).

Lara will be speaking at 7.30pm.

Greg Jenner - Comedy and History

Greg Jenner is a public historian, broadcaster, and author, and an Honorary Research Associate at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the Historical Consultant to BBC's Emmy & multiple BAFTA award-winning Horrible Histories TV series, and was a key member of the team on Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans.

He is the host of the chart-topping BBC comedy podcast You're Dead to Me!, is a regular voice on BBC Radio 4, and his TV appearances include BBC2's The Great History Quiz and Inside Versailles.

Greg will be speaking at 7.45pm.

Dr Jonathan Healey - Youth and the English Revolution

Jonathan Healey is a social historian of early modern England. He directs the MSc in English Local History and the Undergraduate Diploma in English Social and Local History. He is keen to hear from postgraduate research students interested in early modern social history and the history of the English Civil War and Revolution. He completed his doctorate in 2008 at Magdalen College, Oxford and has worked at Oxford Continuing Education since 2012.

Jonathan is also very keen to foster wider engagement in history. He tweets (as @socialhistoryox) and has appeared in various magazines, podcasts, and TV and radio shows. His history of seventeenth century England, The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England (Bloomsbury) was released in 2023. It is aimed at the general reader and was a Times book of the week and the subject of major features in the New Statesman and the New Yorker.

Jonathan Will be speaking at 8.00pm.

Kate Williams - Mary, Queen of Scots and Queenship

Kate Williams is a historian, author and broadcaster. She is the author of historical biographies, ENGLAND'S MISTRESS ('wonderful', Washington Post), BECOMING QUEEN ('outstanding', Spectator), YOUNG ELIZABETH ('fascinating', Telegraph), JOSEPHINE ('a sparkling account,' The Daily Mail) and the novels, THE PLEASURES OF MEN ('thrilling..a soaring talent let loose', Independent) and THE STORMS OF WAR ('the new Cazalet Chronicles,' Lisa Hilton). She wrote THE RING AND THE CROWN on the history of royal weddings with fellow history girls, Alison Weir, Sarah Gristwood and Tracy Borman.

She studied her degree and DPhil at Somerville College, Oxford and is now the Director of Life Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.

She appears weekly on television and radio, discussing social history, royal history and general politics and culture. She was the social historian on BBC2's Restoration Home and her BBC 2 documentary 'Young Victoria is often repeated. She is CNN's in-house historian and analyst.

In 2019, Kate chaired the Women's Prize for Fiction.

Kate will be speaking at 8.15pm.

Dr Steve Cross - Why am I Doomed to Repeat History?

Steve Cross is the UK's nerdiest comedian and the award-winning creator of History Showoff and Science Showoff, comedy nights where you learn as you laugh. He trains experts to be hilarious, in order to create a constant stream of funny nerds for his shows. Steve hosts the World's Only Science Podcast and runs regular shows with Southwark Cathedral.

Steve will be speaking at 8.50pm.

D r Joanne Paul - Treason and Glory: The Children of the House of Dudley

Dr Joanne Paul is an award-winning historian, broadcaster and writer with a passion for sharing her research on Renaissance and Tudor history. She is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex and a 2017 AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. She has published in the Cambridge University Press 'Ideas in Context' series and has been widely praised for her work on Thomas More, William Shakespeare, Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. The House of Dudley is her acclaimed history of the Dudley family. Picked as a Times Book of the Week and Book of 2022, The House of Dudley also garnered stellar reviews in The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Literary Review, Spectator, Wall Street Journal and was featured in History Today and BBC History Magazine.

Find out more about Joanne at her website

Steve will be speaking at 9.05pm.

Gareth Russell: The Monster of Glamis

Gareth Russell is an historian and broadcaster. He is the author of "Young and Damned and Fair," "The Ship of Dreams" (A Daily Telegraph Best History Book, 2019), "Do Let's Have Another Drink" (A Times Book of the Year, 2022) and The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court (2023). He is the host of the podcast Single Malt History and divides his time between Belfast and London.

Gareth will be speaking at 9.20pm.

Nathen Amin and Matt Lewis - The Princes in the Tower (Whodunit?)

Matt Lewis is an author and historian of the medieval period, with a particular interest in the Wars of the Roses and Richard III. He has written biographies of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry III, Richard Duke of York, and Richard III, as well as accounts of The Anarchy, the Wars of the Roses, and Rebellion in the Middle Ages.

Nathen is an experienced public speaker, presenting talks on the Beauforts, Wars of the Roses, and Henry VII, for more than fifty societies and book festivals, including the BBC History Weekend, Windsor Castle, HistFest, British Museum, Gloucester History Festival, Alison Weir Tours, Lichfield Literature Festival, Oundle Festival of Literature, Lancaster Historical Writing Festival, Bosworth Medieval Festival, Barnet Medieval Festival, and the Richard III Society. He has also featured on British, Australian and German radio and television, as well as in print and online media across the UK. As of 2020, he is a trustee and founding member of the Henry Tudor Trust, and in 2022 was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Nathen and Matthew will be speaking at 9.35pm.