Drawing on the previously untapped collection of firsthand accounts in the BBC’s biggest oral history project, The People’s War reveals the untold stories of everyday bravery, moments of terror, and tales of life-affirming community that bring colour to the six years of World War II. Historian John Willis is the very first to fully bring to light this priceless and extensive collection of 47,000 testimonies and over 400 diaries and letters.

These letters and testimonies take us from beaches of Dunkirk to prisoner-of-war camps in Singapore and to the homes of ordinary Britons. The People’s War offers readers a unique opportunity to understand what the war felt like to the lives of millions and keep the flame of memory alive of the extraordinary human resilience of those on the home front as much as on the battle front.

John Willis is a historian and author of Nagasaki: The Forgotten Prisoners. One of Britain’s best-known television executives, he held posts as Director of Programmes at Channel 4 and Director of Factual and Learning at the BBC. In 2012, he was elected Chair of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). He is currently Chair of Governors at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.

This event will be chaired by Peter Grimsdale.

In association with James Allen’s Girls’ School.

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Helen Goh has been a recipe developer with Ottolenghi for more than a decade and is co-author with Yotam Ottolenghi of the best-selling books Sweet and Comfort. Join us for an evening of conversation with Helen and Yotam to celebrate the publication of Helen’s first solo book, Baking & the Meaning of Life.

When we bake, it’s never just about the richness of the butterscotch or the crisp flakiness of the pastry. Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, when you roll up your sleeves and get out the mixing bowl, you do it for reasons far beyond the mere production of a piece of food. Few know this better than Helen Goh, a baking columnist and co-author of bestsellers Sweet and Comfort, and – uniquely – a practising psychologist.

In this, her first solo cookbook, Helen draws on her own life to bring together 100 favourite recipes that show how baking is the ultimate vehicle to convey joy and connection. There’s the buttery chocolate babka Helen and her son love to make together, a fragrant pandan chiffon cake that instantly transports her back to the familiar warmth of her Malaysian childhood, the cheesy cornbread muffins that are her go-tos for picnics, and her sweetly spiced orange madeleines that are deliciously simple and ideal to share.

Helen Goh was born in Malaysia and moved to Australia with her family at age 11. A trained psychologist, she combines psychology practice with a cooking career, becoming head pastry chef at a landmark Melbourne restaurant before moving to London and joining Ottolenghi. Yotam Ottolenghi is an award-winning restaurateur and author.

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The Christmas Companion is the indispensable guide to a cosy, relaxed and memorable Christmas. With sections covering Magic Making, Feasting and Making Merry the book is filled with delicious recipes, inspirational ideas and helpful advice for making the very most of the festive season.

There are sections on how to plan a magical Christmas which includes craft ideas such as wreaths, homemade decorations, advent calendars and crackers, all with different levels of involvement depending on your time and crafting abilities.

At the heart of the book are recipes for the whole winter season – from holiday parties, to bake sales, to Christmas lunch – whether you’re feeding two or twenty. Recipes include cocktails such as Amarena Amaretto Sour and Chestnut Martini, main dishes from Pomegranate-Glazed Turkey to Camembert and Cranberry Pithivier and a range of cakes and puddings like Gingerbread, Cranberry and Zabaione Trifle and Christmas Brownies.

From planning to parties, The Christmas Companion brings the magic, warmth and sparkle of the Christmas season thanks to Skye’s aspirational meets effortless style. It will encourage you to do Christmas your way – picking and choosing the ideas, recipes and traditions that appeal to you.

Skye McAlpine is a cookery writer who believes that food tastes best when shared with others. She is author of three other cookbooks, A Table in Venice, A Table for Friends and A Table Full of Love. She writes a monthly recipe column for The Sunday Times, as well as the popular Substack newsletter, ‘The Dolce Vita Diaries’; and contributes to publications from around the world.

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More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. History lives within its scarred windows and walls.

Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan.

It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel’s 1970s glory days – an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the ‘Paris of Asia’. It is the story of Abida, who became the first female chef to cook in the Inter-Con’s famous kitchen after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And it is the lives of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-something staff who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy – only to witness the Taliban roaring back in 2021.

The result is a remarkably vivid history of how Afghans have survived a half century of destruction and disruption. It is the story of a hotel but also the story of a people.

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