Russia

Steve Crawshaw

Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice
Magdalen College: Auditorium 4:00pm Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Jana Bakunina and Joe Luc Barnes

Russia Today: What do its People Really Think
Pusey House: Chapel 2:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Antony Beevor

Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Andrew Monaghan

Blitzkrieg and the Russian Art of War
Pusey House: Chapel 2:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Matthew Ford

War in the Smartphone Age: Conflict, Connectivity and the Crises at Our Fingertips
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2026 See this event

Festival information:

I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven.

Often as an author, I only occasionally get to meet the public who buy and read my books. The Oxford Literary Festival was a special opportunity for me and certainly one of the highlights of my career – it was an honour I will never forget.

Every literary festival stays in an author’s mind for slightly individual reasons. I shall remember the Oxford festival for: - the size of the audience: at the top end of the range - their intelligence – this makes a huge difference for a speaker. In the Oxford audience I encountered many experts in the field my book covered and even one of the ambassadors I’d quoted - the beauty and the grace of the place itself – incomparable - the willingness of my hearers to buy books afterwards; I’ve never sold more.

It was a privilege for me to visit the festival to receive the Bodley Medal. As an incidental blessing I saw Oxford at its most mysterious and atmospheric. It was a day of piercing cold and as I walked through the twilight from the Sheldonian to Christ Church, the streets were empty and the whole city was shutting itself away. Christ Church was silent except for the footfall of unseen persons around corners and the sounds of evensong creeping from behind closed doors. For the first time I understood thoroughly the power of college ghost stories.

I came away buzzing and reassured that we still have in this century a wide ranging community fascinated not just by famous authors (I’ve rarely seen so many concentrated in one place) but by challenging ideas and questions.

A stimulating and rewarding on-stage conversation; a lively informed and tolerant audience; privileged access to the great treasures of the Bodleian, and finally, wonderfully interesting dinner companions to help me conclude the best day I have enjoyed at any festival – anywhere.