About this Event
Join renowned historian Alistair Moffat as he traces the windswept story of the North Sea throughout British history and examines how it has shaped who we are today.
In The North Sea, Alistair Moffat spends a year travelling its shores to better understand our relationship to this life-giving and destructive sea. Running from Kent and the Rhine estuary to the Norwegian coast and the tip of the Shetland islands, it has been home to warring tribes, foreign invaders, lost civilisations and holidaymakers. With a history that spans millennia, these waters contain a multitude of stories:
- From Pictish citadels and Orcadian stone circles to Roman invasions, the arrival of the Saxons and the Viking raids.
- Of technological advancement, of submarine engineering and weather forecasting.
- Of huge industry, from whaling expeditions and fishing trawlers to the boom of North Sea oil and offshore wind farms.
- Today, the North Sea rises rapidly, claiming land mass as the east coast crumbles and sinks.
This is the story of how the North Sea shaped us and will continue to do so.
‘A rollicking, surprising, often moving personal history of a big part of the British story that has long needed its own narrative. Page-turningly entertaining’ - ANDREW MARR
The North Sea is a rich and adventurous exploration of one of the great arenas of British history’ - MICHAEL PALIN
'Alistair Moffat's The North Sea perfectly pitches itself against that awesome body of water as a humble, expert travelogue- and entirely succeeds as such. A pungent evocation of that coastal experience- a salty,vinegary, saintly book. I felt as though I was there’ -TOM NANCOLLAS
About the author:
Alistair Moffat MBE was born in Kelso, Scotland in 1950. He is an award-winning writer, historian and former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television.He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and was awarded the MBE for services to literature and culture in 2025
The event will start promptly at 7.00pm, please arrive 10 minutes early.
Ticket with book £22 - save £6!
Ticket £8.00
Includes a complimentary glass of wine/soft drink on arrival.
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Author talks are held in our basement which is fully accessible via a nearby lift. Please ask a member of staff who will accompany you.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Stanfords, 7 Mercer Walk, London, United Kingdom
GBP 8.00 to GBP 22.00
