Reading Branch Programme 2011-12

Reading Town Hall

Meetings are held in the John Kendrick Building Reading School Erleigh Road Reading RG1 5LW at 7.30 pm unless otherwise stated. The entrance to the school site is on Erleigh Road. Parking is available on the Terrace or in the car park opposite the Chapel.

All lectures start at 7:30pm, except the October 14 lecture will start at 8pm after the AGM.

There is no fee to attend lectures for members or guests. Booking is unneccesary, all are welcome. Enquiries may be made to Chris Sexton chris.sexton@o2.co.uk 

October 14, 2011

Professor Pauline Croft (Royal Holloway College) 

King James VI and I, and the making of the new translation of the bible, 1611.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James (Authorised) Bible, still a best-seller worldwide. From the Anglo-Saxons to the Hampton Court conference of 1604, where James I agreed to the project, the paper outlines the background and successful completion of this great work.

November  11, 2011  

Professor Nigel Saul (Royal Holloway College),  When was the Age of Chivalry?

The lecture will look at the role of chivalry in late medieval England, examining the paradox that culturally chivalry's influence was at its greatest at the very time when militarily it was in decline. 

December 2, 2011

Dr Geoffrey Tyack (Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford) John Nash and the Making of London's West End.

Over a period of twenty years, starting in 1811, the West End of London was transformed by the creation of Regent's Park and Regent Street, together with a series of related improvements including the building of Buckingham Palace, the landscaping of St James's Park and the creation of Trafalgar Square. These projects were masterminded by the architect John Nash, and they represent the most successful of the many plans to modernise and embellish the capital over the past 200 years. This illustrated talk will assess Nash's achievement and will relate it to its political, economic and cultural context.

January  27, 2012 

Dr Christina Hellmich (University of Reading), Historical Context of Current tensions in the Middle East.

Because of the rapidly-changing circumstances of the region, Dr Hellmich will determine her exact title and content nearer the time. However, coming from the author of recently published ‘al-Qaeda - From global network to local franchise' (up-to-date enough to include a chapter on the death of bin Laden),her lecture is sure to engage audience attention at the very centre of current events.    

February  24, 2012   

Dr Frank Tallett (University of Reading)  Napoleon and the invasion of Russia.

2012 marks the 200^th anniversary of the Emperor Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Russia. This lectures looks at the rationale that impelled him to embark on this campaign, the reasons for its failure, and the consequences for his empire and the rest of Europe.

March 9, 2012

Dr Federica Ferlanti (Cardiff University)  China's war with Japan (1937-1945).

Dr Ferlanti will explore some of the background and circumstances of a war which had a devastating impact on Chinese society, and led to a turning point in the making of the Chinese nation.