Archeology & History speakers

Described as the "peoples' philosopher", Alain has written a panoply of successful books, ranging in topics from love, architecture, travel, literature, and religion. His books have gone on to be best-sellers in 30 different countries. When Alain is not writing, he can be found at 'the School of Life', a book store and workshop dedicated to a new vision of education, which aims to expand on his mantra that our purpose can be found in seeking answers to intellectual questions.

A futurist, journalist, science-fiction author and design critic, Bruce Sterling is best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre.

Christian Wolmar is a British journalist, author, politician and railway historian of Swedish and Russian descent.

Diane Burstein is a qualified London Blue Badge Tour Guide, Historian , Broadcaster and Author. She loves to show both visitors and Londoners the lesser known districts away from the tourist trail. A lively speaker and good communicator, she talks about a variety of London related topics covering London’s literary and theatrical scene, famous personalities and social history .

Gilly is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge; she is also a Fellow of St Catharine’s College. She has published widely in the fields of history, archaeology and the heritage of the German occupation of the Channel Islands, 1940-1945. She also regularly speaks at international conferences in these areas. She is particularly passionate about victims of Nazi persecution and has pioneered the concept of ‘Occupation Archaeology’, the archaeology of military occupation during WWII. She is a firm believer in the role of academics as activists and interventionists in the memory and heritage of those they study.

Mark Champkins, is a product designer and the London Science Museum’s first “Inventor in Residence”.

Niall Ferguson is one of our most influential commentators on Geopolitics and the Global Economy. The wide range of his expertise underscores his ongoing importance as a keynote speaker.

Paola Antonelli's goal is to promote design’s understanding, until its positive influence on the world is universally acknowledged. Her work investigates design’s impact on everyday experience, often including overlooked objects and practices, and combining design, architecture, art, science and technology.

Sarah Harper is a British gerontologist. She achieved particular acclaim when she established Oxford's Institute of Ageing, and became the University of Oxford’s first professor of Gerontology.

Simon Schama, CBE is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University, New York.

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb is a British historian, academic and television presenter who has written and appeared in a number of television and radio programmes, most recently The Great Fire and Elizabeth I for Channel 5.