David Starkey

Historian Dr David Starkey launches a new annual ‘perspective’ lecture at the festival in which a distinguished intellect is invited to give their views on the complex and confusing times in which we find ourselves today.

Starkey says cultures, especially cultures in flux, need a bedrock. For centuries, it was the Classics. F R Leavis tried to make it English literature but failed. Now, more than ever, Starkey argues, history is or should be the foundation of our civilisation: it’s the principal means of cultural transmission; the source of our constitution and politics and the best means of understanding contemporary society.

Starkey’s own career has undergone marked shifts: he began as a libertarian but has become a conservative; he was an academic historian but, seduced by television and the media, became an outspoken commentator and public intellectual.  He has presented many documentaries about the Tudors and about monarchy including Henry VIII and Monarchy by David Starkey. His most recent books include Henry: Virtuous Prince and Magna Carta: The True Story Behind the Charter. He has been a regular on programmes such as BBC Question Time and has often found himself at the centre of controversy for his views on race and British culture.