Biography is one of the great literary growth areas, reaching a huge number of readers. But how do authors deal with the scandals, rivalries, secrets and lies they may come across in the course of their work? Is it a question of publish and be damned? Or should the subject’s privacy always be respected? Tom Bower is the country’s bestselling biographer of contemporary public figures, renowned for his no-holds-barred approach. Michael Freedland has published several authoris...

In My Promised Land, Israeli author and journalist Ari Shavit writes about his country with both love and misgiving. In this additional event – a second chance to hear him at this year’s festival – he discusses with American journalist Michael Goldfarb how Jews of the Diaspora fit into his analysis. What changes in Jewish identity have been brought about by the creation of Israel and the battle to sustain it? Is an Israeli a fundamentally different kind of ...

In The Secret Anglo-French War in the Middle East 1940-1948, Meir Zamir uncovers an unknown Franco-Zionist intelligence collaboration against Britain in the Middle East that undermined its position in the region at the time of the British Mandate. He and Michael Goldfarb discuss this clandestine conflict in the light of French and British intelligence activities at the time.

In Association with Ben Gurion University

In City on a Hilltop, Sara Hirschhorn tackles the much-contested American settler movement. Over 60,000 Jewish-Americans have settled in the territories since 1967. Who are they, and why did they chose to leave America to live at the centre of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? In Dov Waxman examines the seismic shift in American-Jewry’s attitude towards Israel, which is more conflicted than ever before.