Join us for this fascinating interview with the best-selling author Giles Milton!

In his latest work, with his consummate storyteller’s flair, the bestselling author of D-Day and Fascinating Footnotes from History zooms in on the political, military and cultural aftermath of the Second World War in the freshly divided Berlin.

Berlin was in ruins when Soviet forces fought their way towards the Reichstag in the spring of 1945. Streets were choked with rubble, power supplies severed and the population close to starvation. The arrival of the Soviet army heralded yet greater terrors: the city's civilians were to suffer rape, looting and horrific violence. Worse still, they faced a future with neither certainty nor hope.

Berlin's fate had been sealed four months earlier at the Yalta Conference. The city, along with the rest of Germany, was to be carved up between the victorious powers - British, American, French and Soviet. On paper, it seemed a pragmatic solution; in reality, it fired the starting gun for the Cold War.

As soon as the four powers were no longer united by the common purpose of defeating Germany, they reverted to their pre-war hostility and suspicion. Rival systems, rival ideologies and rival personalities ensured that Berlin became an explosive battleground. The ruins of this once-great city were soon awash with spies, gangsters and black-marketeers, all of whom sought to profit from the disarray.

For the next four years, a handful of charismatic but flawed individuals - British, American and Soviet - fought an intensely personal battle over the future of Germany, Europe and the entire free world.

Checkmate in Berlin tells this exhilarating, high-stakes tale of grit, skulduggery, and raw power. From the high politics of Yalta to the desperate scramble to break the Soviet stranglehold of Berlin with the greatest aerial operation in history, this is the epic story of the first battle of the Cold War and how it shaped the modern world.

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Come along, enjoy a glass of wine and what promises to be a fantastic treat for all history buffs.

About the speaker: 

GILES MILTON is the internationally best-selling author of twelve works of narrative history, including Nathaniel’s Nutmeg and Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and have been serialised on both the BBC and in British newspapers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

The Times described Milton as being able ‘to take an event from history and make it come alive’, while The New York Times said that Milton’s ‘prodigious research yields an entertaining, richly informative look at the past.

In the preface to the American edition of Fascinating Footnotes he has written:

Much of my working life is spent in the archives, delving through letters and personal papers. The huge collection housed in Britain’s National Archives is incompletely catalogued (the National Archives in Washington DC is somewhat better) and you can never be entirely sure what you will find in any given box of documents. Days can pass without unearthing anything of interest: I liken it to those metal-detecting treasure-hunters of North Carolina who scour the Outer Banks in the hope of turning up a Jacobean shilling or signet ring. Persistence often pays rich dividends and this book - an idiosyncratic collection of unknown historical chapters - is the result of my own metaphorical metal detecting. Amidst the flotsam and jetsam, I’ve found (I hope) some glittering gems.

Milton's works of narrative history rely on personal testimonies, diaries, journals and letters to make sense of key moments in history, recounted through the eyes of those who were there.

For those joining us IN PERSON:

PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE LECTURE HALL IN KENSINGTON CENTRAL LIBRARY:

About the Festival and the event:

This year we are presenting the London History Festival in a series of 'blended' events - meaning the talks will take place in the Kensington library lecture hall in front of a live audience, and will at the same time be streamed to those joining us online.

*Please note that the concessionary rate of £3 per ticket is offered to pensioners, students and people on benefits. 

**IN PERSON Tickets will also be on sale in Kensington Central Library starting 1st November.

***Online tickets are free and can be obtained via a separate Eventbrite link.