Previously…….Scotland’s History Festival events announced

Scotland’s History Festival has announced their programme of events which will take place between 17-26 November 2017, and some of which are in Edinburgh.

Two of Scotland’s biggest names complete the already impressive programme of speakers. Former First Minister, Alex Salmond, will be in conversation with Professor Sir Tom Devine on November 25th 2017 at 7.30pm in the City of Edinburgh Methodist Church Halls on Nicolson Square. If any of you managed to get a ticket for Mr Salmond’s show at the Fringe then you will know that Tom Devine was one of his guests, and he introduced him as a giant of history. There followed a very interesting discussion about politics in the not too distant past.

Festival director, Susan Morrison, said: “These are two of the ‘biggest beasts’ roaming Scotland’s modern history.

“One stood in the very eye of a political storm and the other has been responsible for shaping a new view of our national story. Think of it as a bit like watching Godzilla face Kong. Only noiser.”

The festival has already drawn praise for its vibrant and diverse line-up, which includes:

* The Flyting: a celebration of the Scots language (includes swearing, be aware!);

* Runaway slaves in Britain: an unique collaboration reflecting on a lesser known aspect of black history;

* Gaming history: explore the reality of the historic people behind the pixels in your computer games. Could you hack it as a real pirate /Viking/Egyptian?;

* Come dine with kant: Dine in one of Edinburgh’s finest restaurants according to the rules laid down by the great philosopher;

* Detroit ‘67, Memphis ‘68: Stuart Cosgrove, broadcaster, writer and iconoclast looks at two years that ripped America, complete with the soundtracks;

* An afternoon with Elsie Inglis: on the centenary of her death, a chance to learn more about this truly great Scottish woman;

* Trace your family tree with Dr Bruce Durie: dig deep to find your family roots with a man who can find that hard-to-track errant ancestor;

* Tom Devine in conversation with Kevin McKenna – Devine in the spotlight with McKenna;

* The Templars with Dan Jones: the knights who went into dubious legend;

* The Medici: Mary Hollingsworth and the reality of the family who built banking; and

* A special Flint & Pitch Production: A dangerous woman’s guide to transgressive behaviour: everything you need to know about being a dangerous woman from the great dangerous women of history.

The diverse programme includes comedy, walks, talks, food, seminars and hopefully a good old bit of healthy debate.

The full programme and ticket details are available online at www.historyfest.co.uk.

This year, Previously… Introduces ‘Caledonia’ – who features on the cover of the programme. A true Scottish superhero/warrior goddess, she embodies what it is to be Scottish. Created by Gary Erskine, internationally-renowned Scottish comic-book artist who has worked on projects for nearly every major comics publisher. including DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics and Marvel.

His work also appears in computer games and film.