Video Clips
Talks and Lectures on Contemporary History and Today’s World
Below is a selection of illustrated lectures and presentations which Andrew offers
| # | Title | Lecture summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Britain’s war and post-war social and cultural upheavals | |||
| A1. | The Sensational Trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover | Why did DH Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover become a celebrated court case; what courtroom drama, unforgettable humour and humiliation for the prosecution did the procession of witnesses defending the novel produce? How did the trial serve as an overture to the later upheavals of the 60s and the permissive society? | |
| A2. | The Profumo Scandal 65 years on: | In July 1961, John Profumo met Christine Keeler at a country house party on Lord Astor’s Cliveden estate. The consequences flowing from that fateful weekend: sex, scandal, spies, security, suicide, race, violence, court cases, imprisonment and high politics, left Britain shellshocked. Things were never the same again. | |
| A3. | Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood Speech in Retrospect: | Powell’s speech in Birmingham on 20 April 1968 was one of the most notorious and explosive of the post-war years. What kind of man was Powell; what did he say; why did he speak as he did? At a time when immigration remains a salient political issue, how can his speech be seen today? | |
| A4. | The Politician, the stable boy and the Establishment | Jeremy Thorpe, the Liberal Leader, was compromised by a past relationship. This is a story of ambition, loyalty, establishment partisanship and a famous Old Bailey trial. | |
| A5. | The Second Elizabethan Age: Reliving our own story: | A vivid pastiche of our post-war social and cultural revolutions embracing social class; families and marriage; earning a living; day-to-day life; homes; transport; religion; sport and leisure; popular entertainment; crime, the mass media, the upheaval in values and the growth of a more permissive culture. Can you believe it? A fascinating journey. | |
| A6. | 70 Remarkable Years: A Portrait of and Retrospect on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II | looking at her childhood; her marriage and Philip; her youthful accession; her steadfast character; the responsibilities she carried and crises she faced; her family and homes across her Kingdom. How did she manage to remain a symbol of national unity across seven turbulent decades while retaining the affections of her subjects? What explains her success? Were there issues she overlooked? | |
| A7. | Scotland the Bonnie and the Brave: | A vivid portrait of Scotland’s distinctive history, embracing the Roman and Viking invasions; Robert the Bruce and the triumph of Bannockburn; the later union with England but also looking at Scotland’s culture and difference; Scara Brae, Brochs, language, islands, munros, lochs, railways, clans and traditions, famous sons and her relations with England. Is independence still on the agenda? | |
| A8. | Ireland across the Ages; Culture, People and Identity | A moving and heartrending story of poverty, passion, famine, persecution and ultimately the pursuit of independence: a compelling narrative, rich in personality and differing senses of national identity while embracing her poets and novelists as well as Ireland’s majestic landscape, not least, Giant’s Causeway. | |
| A9. | The First World War in Perspective: The Human Dimension. | This was a war unlike any other. This vivid portrayal looks at the euphoria at its outbreak; the reality and horror of life in the trenches; the impact on those who fought and those who waited at home and, not least, the war as a catalyst for change. It will move you to tears. | |
| A10. | Not Much Gratitude There: The Upheaval of 1945 | Why was Mr Churchill, the architect of our victory over Hitler, so decisively rejected in the 1945 Election? What really caused the upheaval? Was the result a surprise or might it have been anticipated? | |
| A11. | Liverpool: from crisis to renewal: a city’s turbulent past and its resurgence. | The story of Liverpool’s rise and its post war challenges; the Beatles story; two football clubs and their famous sons; the Toxteth riots; the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters; the formidable leadership of two Bishops on the streets of the city during those difficult years; and, beyond that, Liverpool’s rebuilding to become in 2008, the cultural capital of Europe and today, a proud and vibrant city with a waterfront to the West. | |
| A12. | This United Kingdom: | Drawing on the perspectives of writers, poets, philosophers and others, here is a compelling portrait of the English; their culture, beliefs, attitudes, enthusiasms and eccentricities. What has made these small islands off the coast of Europe so deeply influential in the development of Western civilisation? Is there a national character? Are we still a United Kingdom? | |
| A13. | The Crumbling of Old Certainties: British Politics in Turmoil: | Since the financial crash in 2008, we have been living through a succession of upheavals; seven Prime Ministers in ten years; Brexit added to the mix; Covid increased our debt; the NHS struggles; inflation rises; families are driven to food banks and we hesitate to define a woman. What interlocking factors lie behind these upheavals; what now shapes our thinking and allegiances? | |
| A14. | An Anatomy of our Beloved NHS: | Once described as, ‘the closest thing Britain has to a national religion’, its place in the nation’s heart was confirmed by Covid. How does the NHS work; what does it cost; how has that changed; what continuing challenges does it face? Do others ‘do health’ differently? Do we need to adjust? | |
| A15. | Understanding Inequality in Britain today? | What are the different dimensions of inequality in Britain? Why has this become a burning contemporary issue and just how unequal a society is Britain? Can societies be too equal and too unequal? How can we find the right balance? | |
| A16. | The Swinging Sixties | The scarcely believable story of how in a single decade older values and hierarchies were swept aside giving birth in censorship, satire, sex, abortion, gay rights, divorce and homicide to a more liberal and permissive culture which challenged so much which was familiar and gave us the Britain we know today; a roller coaster of a journey – relive it all and enjoy the ride! | |
| A17. | Taking Coals to Newcastle: | Newcastle was one of the first areas to develop a coal industry from which came much of Britain’s greatness as an industrial power. Coal proved midwife to invention; but at what cost and to whom? Lift the lid on what went on in the dark beneath our feet; the work; the disasters and the decline of the industry as cleaner sources of energy were found. It is a story from another age. | |
| B. Some of Britain’s most Engaging Personalities and Writers | |||
| B1. | Winston Churchill; Man, Politician and Leader; A Portrait of an Exceptional Human Being. | Churchill is remembered as the man who won the war. This vivid portrait considers both his formidable and decisive leadership in war but also the kind of man he was; his early life, marriage; friendships; wit, writing, enthusiasms; beliefs, moods, misjudgments and, not least, his sheer stature as a human being. | |
| B2. | ‘And a little mouse shall lead them’ (Hugh Dalton). But was Clement Attlee so much more? | What kind of a man and leader was Clement Attlee? How, despite his lack of charisma, did his Government give Britain a new direction after the war? How did that agenda come to shape a new and remarkable cross-party consensus? | |
| B3. | Supermac: The Last Edwardian at No 10: | An intimate portrait of Harold Macmillan; the actor/manager as Prime Minister. How was the image he cultivated an integral part of his style and appeal? Was Macmillan out of touch or a far-sighted statesman? Did he understand very well the adjustments needed in a changing post-war world? | |
| B4. | Maggie: The Iron Lady; A Personal and Political Portrait. | What kind of woman was Mrs Thatcher? What shaped her instincts, beliefs and style? What challenge did she bring to the post-war consensus? How much did she change; why was her fall so abrupt and dramatic and was her legacy enduring? | |
| B5. | TB/GB: The Rivals; Friendship, Partnership and Antipathy. | Once the closest of friends, how did Tony Blair and Gordon Brown shape New Labour’s vision? On what did they agree and disagree? How did they work together in Cabinet and why did their personal relationship become so acrimonious? You need little interest in politics to be moved by this intense personal drama. | |
| B6. | Who is our Greatest of our post-war Prime Minister? | Vivid, anecdotal and amusing character portraits, set in the context of the circumstances they faced, can help us understand how 18 different occupants of No 10 since 1945 have played the role. What are the characteristics of a great Prime Minister and what kind of rank order emerges? | |
| B7. | Just Boris; The Politician as Entertainer: | A portrait of an eccentric, unconventional and charismatic Prime Minister embracing his buffoonery, his celebrity, his life, his writing, his loves, his wit, his luck, his appeal but also his beliefs, style in No. 10 and his legacy. What is the key to understanding Boris? What was his undoing? | |
| B8. | George Orwell: Prophet of Today’s World. | Orwell died at just 46. In his short life he was always an individualist: novelist, journalist, critic, crusader for social justice and against all enemies of human freedom – a complex, fascinating man who laid bare the realities of his own world, gave us ‘Big Brother’ and anticipated so much of what became of us all in the 76 years after his death. | |
| B9. | Charles Dickens, a Portrait of England’s most celebrated novelist: | Writer, humanitarian and critic of mid-Victorian English society, Dickens was a complex and at times obsessive man. He was the incomparable storyteller and creator of so many characters each of whom we feel we have met; a man revered in his own time whose private life often brought unhappiness but whose voice still speaks to us today. | |
| C. American personalities and culture, then and now | |||
| C1. | JFK; The Politics of Hope and Expectation. | John Fitzgerald Kennedy became President of the USA at the age of 43. He personified youth, glamour, magnetism, vision and the hopes of a generation. Yet within three years he was dead. How did JFK reach the White House? What kind of man was he and how did he see the future of both America and the world? What did he achieve and what was his legacy? | |
| C2. | Americans Crusader for Civil Rights; He had a Dream. | Martin Luther King, embodied the struggle of African Americans for equal rights, freedom and an end to legal segregation from 1955 to his death, in 1968, at just 39. What made him such a charismatic and influential leader? Did he realise his Dream and is America, today, a different place because of him? | |
| C3. | Donald Trump: The Second Coming: Reflections on the 45th and 47th USA President who is like no other. | A vivid and humorous portrait of the dealer/celebrity turned politician: his ego, past and style. What do those who work with him think of him? To whom has he appealed and why? What did he achieve in his first term and as the pace quickens in his second term what does that mean for America and the world? | |
| C4. | On the 250th Anniversary of the Revolution, what was and is ‘the American Dream’? | How did the Founding Fathers first conceive the ‘Dream’ and how has it been interpreted and developed by different generations of Americans? Has the ‘Dream’ ever been made a reality and is it still alive for all Americans today? | |
| C5. | The Kennedy Dynasty; a portrait of America’s most famous but also most tragic family: | Joseph, Rose, Joe, JFK, Jackie, Robert, Teddy and others too. How did the sheer will to win, success, pride, patriotism, vision and ambition shape the dynasty; how did different Kennedys, amidst waves of personal anguish and loss, bring different talents to public office? Is there a Kennedy legacy? | |
| D. Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland: Exploring Contrasting Cultures | |||
| D1. | ’A collection of countries we can’t tell apart’ | Is how Scandinavia and the Nordic countries have been described. Is that true? What are the distinctive characteristics of and contrasts between, these countries? Are they saying something to us? Ought we to listen? | |
| D2. | Norwegian culture; ‘They do things differently there’: | A portrait of a different world embracing the people, their history, traditions, majestic landscape, forests, railways and, not least, their oil. What are the values which bind the country together; what makes Norway a country defined by the pursuit of equality and seemingly affording to Norwegians prosperity, happiness and contentment? | |
| D3. | A Norwegian Cultural Tapestry; Stepping into Another World | Embracing the dignified response to the Nazi invasion of 1940 and Anders Breivik’s mass shootings in 2011 – alongside the influences which shape their character and thinking, their peace-making instincts and their greatest national figures – Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg and Edvard Munch. A story to give us pause. | |
| D4. | A Portrait of Norwegian Life and Culture | embracing the landscape, breathtaking mountain scenery, forests, fjords, deep valleys and glaciers but also society, values, spectacular railways and life in remote Fjordland with its simplicity, serenity, solitude and habit of living off the land. | |
| D5. | Arctic Norway and the Sami: a People to Celebrate | Life within the Arctic Circle poses its special challenges. Within that, the Sami culture, the oldest in Northern Norway, is currently experiencing a renaissance. But who are the Sami and what has made possible the survival of so distinctive a culture, language, dialects and way of life? ? | |
| D6. | Denmark and Norway: Portrait of Another World | A penetrating look at the sense of community and distinctive culture and informality of these two countries – but also at the questions some apprehensive Danes and Norwegians are asking as they look to the future. | |
| D7. | Denmark and Sweden | Are these two Nordic countries, sharing common and distinctive characteristics, saying something to us? What kind of societies have they built? How different are they and why? How are they responding to the pressures of the contemporary world? Will the past be a guide to the future? | |
| D8. | A Portrait of Sweden: Then and Now. | Once, under Charles XII the dominant country in the Baltic, Sweden went into prolonged decline. Now, this land of green spaces and buzzing cities is the biggest of the Scandinavian countries: open, liberal and prosperous embracing consensus, equality, welfare, neutrality and doing your own thing. What fresh challenges now confront the Swedes? | |
| D9. | A Portrait of Finland, | Scandinavia’s most easterly country; a land of spectacular vistas, lakes, forests, low temperatures and saunas; famous for its dark winters and midnight sun; where equality and opportunity for all are prized. How and why has Finland recently repositioned itself on the world stage and in so doing provided leadership to the West? | |
| D10. | Understanding Iceland: | Iceland, by far the smallest Nordic country, is famed for spectacular scenery, robust knitwear, belief in elves and an historic capital. In 2008, it faced financial meltdown. Where next for Iceland? | |
| D11. | Poland: The Embattled State: | Caught between East and West, Poland offers a moving and heart-rending story of one nation’s struggle for freedom and dignity in the face of partition, invasion, devastation and heroic renewal. Once disappearing from the map of Europe she returned to suffer the brutalising experience of 1940-45 and, later, the heroism of Lech Walesa and the Solidarity Movement in the Gdansk shipyards in the 1980s. Where next? | |
| D12. | Tallinn and the Baltics: Small is Better? | The three Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, are, together, scarcely bigger than Scotland. Bordered and dominated for much of their history by Russia, they are now vigorously independent and intending so to remain. Then came Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This portrait of the Baltic States and of the influences which shape them also asks: where next? | |
| E. Spain, Europe, Russia, China, Africa: Cultures and Personalities | |||
| E1. | Spain’s Golden Age and After: Discovering Another World: | The remarkable story of how, backed by Kings and Queens, Bartholomew Diaz, Vasco De Gama, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and the Spanish Conquistadors, through ruthless ambition and a fearless spirit of adventure, set out on the seas into the unknown to create a global Empire. Why did they do it and how did that Empire later crumble? | |
| E2. | Understanding the Emergence of Modern Spain: | the story of Spain’s troubled, divided, impoverished and turbulent past; her brutal three years of Civil War, Franco’s dictatorship and her remarkable social, economic, cultural and political transformation of the last 50 years. | |
| E3. | The Tragedy of the Spanish Civil War | The almost unbearable story of a war – a curtain raiser to Armageddon – which drew many volunteers, including George Orwell to fight against the Fascist and Nazi jackboot in defence of the fledgling Spanish democracy: it will move you to tears. | |
| E4. | From Prussia to the German Reichs. | F From the early 18th century, Prussia, frequently militarist and expansionist, played a pivotal role in European affairs. By 1871, a unified Germany was the result and over the next 75 years, Germany provoked two catastrophic world wars. This talk sets modern Germany in context exploring both the ideas and the personalities which led twice to Armageddon. | |
| E5. | Adolf Hitler: Architect of the most profound collapse of modern civilization. | What kind of man and leader was he? What did he believe and why? What circumstances in Germany after 1919 made him possible; what were his characteristics as a leader; how did he craft his appeal to the German people; how did he reduce a civilised nation to barbarism? | |
| E6. | The Secret of Germany’s Post-war Resurgence | Germany, today, is a very different country from the one which Nazism reduced to utter devastation by 1945. How can her strength, vitality and prosperity best be explained? And how is Germany today repositioning herself in a threatening world? | |
| E7. | Russia: The Lost Civilisation: | A cultural panorama on pre-revolutionary Russia: her character, folklore, spirituality, novelists, playwrights, musicians and artists and, not least, St Petersburg and Moscow: a fascinating pursuit of a country both European and Asiatic, swept away by Revolution and of those who shaped a remarkable people. | |
| E8. | Russia: The Forgotten Holocaust. | Between 1924 and 1953 millions, perished in the Soviet Union’s network of concentration camps – the Gulag. This is the searing story of the ‘crimes’, humiliation, suffering and death of these ‘Enemies of the People’ and those who were its architects. It is a story which, in different forms, is being relived today. | |
| E9. | Alexander Solzhenitsyn and the triumph of the human spirit. | The engaging and uplifting struggle of one extraordinary Russian patriot, soldier, inmate of the Gulag, writer and human being, against adversity, brutality, tyranny and oppression; a man who could find peace and solace neither within his native Russia, nor in the West. It is a story which will move you to tears but which speaks powerfully to us all. | |
| E10. | Understanding the mind and aspirations of Vladimir Putin; Russia’s new Tsar. | Winston Churchill described Russia as, ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’. How can an understanding of Russian history and culture before and after the 1917 revolution enable us better to understand Putin, his acolytes, Russia today and, not least, the war in Ukraine? | |
| E11. | The Reality of Putin’s Russia Today. | The scarcely believable story of how Vladimir Putin and his KGB acoloytes captured the Russian state while enriching themselves, cast democracy aside and through serial corruption, expropriation, assassination and judicial and ecclesiastical skulduggery, reconnected with Russia’s autocratic past before taking on Ukraine and the West to become the world’s pariah nation. | |
| E12. | China: The Red Dragon Awakes: | China, the world’s largest country, has vast economic and technological power whose tentacles extend well into Western Europe and America. What is China like on the inside? What are President Xi’s ambitions? Does the West have a coherent approach to China or are we already far too dependent? Ought we to be afraid? | |
| E13. | Nelson Mandela: the triumph of warmth, humanity and generosity. | Following the centenary of Mandela’s birth, this presentation, drawing on Mandela’s writings, his years in prison and his leadership of his country, offers a vivid portrait of one of the most remarkable human beings of our times and his defeat of ruthless oppression. | |
| F. Reflections on our lives today: where are we heading? | |||
| F1. | Political Correctness, Woke and Culture Wars: our new insanity? | George Orwell argued that freedom is the right to say that 2+2 = 4. Are we free today, or does PC, compounded by ‘Woke’ and ‘Culture Wars’, constrain what we write, say and think – or don’t think – sweeping many issues from the field of public conversation? Are the ‘thought police’ now with us, giving us, today, a Gulag of the mind? | |
| F2. | How should we lead our lives to find fulfilment? | Canadian Psychologist, Jordan Peterson became an international megastar through two books, Twelve Rules for Life and Beyond Order, published a short time ago. Very frequently, Peterson is speaking and writing against the spirit of our times. What is he saying? How does his message relate to our own lives? | |
| F3. | What does it mean to be ‘good’ and what is the ‘good’ society? | Doing what is right rather than what is easy or serves our own interests, can test us all. Yet, whatever our circumstances, we have power to assert our identity and to choose. We can all be good. But what is goodness, for ‘me’ and for ‘us’ and what social and cultural trends today may militate against the good society? Join a fascinating discussion. | |
| F4. | How can we unlock the door to Finding Happiness? | We all want happiness but it can be elusive just as we can find it in different and sometimes unexpected places. Let’s try to tease out some approaches and attitudes, either to embrace or avoid, which novelists, poets, philosophers and many others have found which may open the door to a greater personal fulfilment. | |
| F5. | Amidst doom and gloom, ought we to celebrate? | Every day seems to bring news of some disaster – Coronavirus, climate change, social care, energy crisis, cost of living, Ukraine, Gaza, terrorism. But ours is an era of unprecedented progress. Where can we see that and what explains mankind’s remarkable progress across, very broadly, the last 250 years? Where is progress still proving elusive? | |
| F6. | Wealth in Britain today: too much for the Baby Boomers? | Without any conscious planning, how is wealth now divided between the different generations and how has this arisen? Which ‘fortunate’ and ‘unfortunate’ generations have emerged? Has the unwritten inter-generational contract been broken and, if so, with what consequences? Why does this matter? What might be done? | |
| F7. | Does Truth no longer matter? | In the West, are the values of truth, integrity and decency in public life and in our daily communications in decay? Have social media, ‘fake news’, ‘conspiracy theories’ and palpable deceit created a gulf between rhetoric and reality bringing widespread disenchantment and distrust? How has it happened; why does it matter and what can we do? | |
| F8. | Making sense of today’s Populist upheavals. | Since 2008, the West has been in turmoil. In Britain, Europe and America, there has been a revolt against traditional leaders who have often seemed to be detached from public opinion on the urgent issues before us. What is going on? How can we explain and begin to understand the challenge of ‘outsiders’ to ‘insiders’? Does it matter? | |
| F9. | Your Money; Our Money … How Government raises cash and how it spends it. | Each year, government spends on our behalf around £1400bn. How is that raised and from whom? Is it wisely spent? How has the pattern of expenditure changed, it seems, inexorably, over the last 70 years in favour of ‘us’? What areas of expenditure have been overlooked and with what consequences? Time to think again? | |
| F10. | Revisiting Brexit ten years on: | How did circumstance, age, education, culture, geography and identity, shape voters’ choices and attitudes? What longer term forces were in play and how has Brexit sent our political life into a seemingly endless tailspin of crises? Looking back, have the apprehensions of Remainers proved more or less justified than the confident expectations of Leavers? | |
| F11. | A World Less Free. | We cherish our ‘democratic’ way of life and the freedoms we enjoy. But we are the exception; in most of the world today ‘unfreedom’, taking different forms, is the norm. Why and how has democracy been forced onto the defensive? As the new East/West divide becomes clear to us all, how serious is the threat and what different forms does it take? How best to respond? | |
| F12. | Autocrats with Impunity: | The scarcely believable story of how the West is being outmanoeuvred and undermined after the Cold War by China, North Korea, Russia and Iran and their proxies through partnerships, agents, spies, technologies, sabotage, social media, smears, disinformation, lies, imperialism and the battle for minds in today’s struggle for world hegemony. | |
| F13. | The World Context: Understanding Today’s Global inter-relationships. | The world is coming to us and becoming a smaller place; ever more interconnected. Isolation is not an option. China, Russia and Donald Trump are expansionist; Africa is being re-colonised; theocratic Middle Eastern states are threatening. Let us try to join the dots and give shape to the new world emerging. | |
| F14. | What are social media and ‘safetyism’ doing to our children and grandchildren? | Are today’s adolescents too shepherded in their lives and too hooked to their devices? What is the evidence that Generation Z has become the ‘anxious’ generation; often unsettled, isolated, lonely and fearful? Are matters worse than we think; who is to blame; do we need to wake up and act? How? | |
| F15. | AI: Best hope for our future or a threat to us all? | Artificial Intelligence represents the latest triumph of human ingenuity. Its possibilities are immense and it could make us all healthier, wealthier and even wiser. But it carries a warning on the bottle; much forming the stuff of our daily life, it threatens. This balanced presentation considers the pros and cons. AI is here and will not go away, we need to understand it. | |
What those who have heard Andrew speak at sea and on land have said
To groups on cruise ships
Andrew is a commanding and engaging speaker whom I have heard on many occasions. He speaks with clarity, insight and humour and is able to connect with a range of audiences.
I found Andrew’s 45 minute lecture quite outstanding. I knew little about the subject beforehand but he held my attention completely and made his subject absolutely compelling. First class.
I have listened to Andrew speak on several occasions on aspects of post-war Britain ranging from the Profumo affair to Brexit, to Prime Ministerial enthusiasms and eccentricities. You need no prior knowledge to enjoy these presentations. The depth of his knowledge is impressive and his lively, witty and incisive delivery is superb. He supports his talks with PowerPoint visuals and invariably keeps his audience both engaged and entertained. I recommend him without reservation.
We have all lived through these times but Andrew’s use of telling detail and anecdote, his painting pictures with words and his absolute command of his subject made all his presentations on our cruise utterly compelling.
Andrew spoke on six occasions on our cruise on a formidable range of subjects. We were a group of six and found him captivating. We also found the conversation continuing afterwards in the bars and restaurants.
To groups around the country
Many thanks for your relaxed, informative and fascinating talk. (Rutland)
Thank you very much for your talk today which generated a great deal of discussion. (White Cliffs)
Your talk was very thought-provoking and the discussion in our house has continued. We have had very positive feedback. (Weston Super Mare)
‘I really enjoyed Andrew Baker’s talk. It was stimulating food for thought and I found the talk quite uplifting and a salutary reminder of some fundamental things that are easy to forget.’ (Leyland)
‘That was a fascinating talk, thank you so much’. (Radlett)
Thank you very much for an absorbing and entertaining talk which our members greatly enjoyed. You have a firm grip of the details and we will certainly be in contact to arrange another talk. (Esher)
Many of us well remember the 1940’s and 1950’s but Andrew’s talk on the pace of change was cleverly constructed; a very entertaining nostalgic trip revisiting times through which we have lived. (Colchester)
Andrew delivered a riveting analysis of the merits of our post-war Prime Ministers. It was a thorough, balanced and thought-provoking presentation. It was very refreshing to have a talk of this quality and range at one of our monthly meetings. (Beccles)
What a terrific talk! I enjoyed the formal style, erudition and humour that Andrew offered. (Bookham)
This morning’s talk was absolutely fascinating, a huge amount of content so very well presented by Andrew. An absorbing subject that could have easily been confusing but it was so clearly set out and peppered with amusing anecdotes. (Maidstone)
Thank you very much for an excellent talk on Russia and Vladimir Putin today. (Tenterden)
Well done on a superb presentation today – your best yet and that’s saying something. Definitely deserves a wider audience! (Mole Valley)
Thank you very much for the talk on Maggie Thatcher last Monday. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and I have had lots of positive feedback from members. (Hutton)
‘Your talk was a veritable tour de force, a perfect template for how a lecture should be conducted; excellent visual support; clear and audible diction; cocktail of drama, humour and pathos. The best lecture I have heard at Ashridge.’ (Eastbourne Ashridge Circle)
Zoom Presentations
During Covid, many groups enjoyed using Zoom to come together. Andrew gave over 100 presentations in using Zoom and he still offers Zoom presentations where groups, for whatever reason, prefer that format. Groups watching by Zoom see both Andrew speaking and the vivid PowerPoint imagery supporting each presentation. Questions and discussion follow in the usual manner.
The Booking Form makes it possible for groups to request either a Formal Presentation or a Zoom Presentation.