May 23 2024 - Peter Frankopan and Adam Rutherford on the Changing World
The world is changing rapidly around us – from shifts in global powers to new technologies, conflict, migration and more.
And although we may not realise, some of the most profound transformations are taking place in the natural world.
Many of these changes are related to global warming, but also – for better or worse – are a direct result of our lifestyle choices.
In this wide-ranging discussion, best-selling author and historian Peter Frankopan joins scientist, writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford to talk about the history of the planet since the Big Bang, explaining how climate and the natural world have shaped human history and how and why our species has in turn sought to transform the world around us.
Covering everything from the civilisations of Mesopotamia to the Roman empire, from the age of European empires to CIA assessments about climatic shifts in the 1970s, Peter will outline how it has never been more important to learn lessons from the past.
Please note that the talk begins promptly at 6:30 PM, with a welcome drink from 6 PM.
Tickets include a welcome drink and lecture by Peter and Adam, and tickets just for the talk will not feature a Q+A. However, an intimate group dinner hosted by Peter and Adam to continue the discussions is also available to book. Dinner includes three courses, an additional welcome drink and wine.
Guests staying over for the evening and attending the talk will be eligible for a complimentary room upgrade subject to availability.
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Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University. His book, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World was a New York Times Bestseller, topping the Non-Fiction charts all around the world, including in the India, China and the UK where it stayed in the Top 10 for nine months. In 2018, it was named as one of the 25 most important books translated into Chinese over the last 40 years, along with The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice. Daily Telegraph History Book of the Year, it was named as a Sunday Times Book of the Decade (2010-20).
Peter’s most recent book is The Earth Transformed: an Untold History was named The Times History Book of the Year 2023, and was a Financial Times, Guardian/Observer, Independent, BBC History, New Yorker, Frontline (The Hindu), New Zealand Herald Book of the Year – and a bestseller in the UK, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, India, Indonesia and Germany. It is ‘a completely new view of the history of mankind, which sheds a different light on our own future’ (Die Zeit), one that blends ‘brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research’ (Arab News). ‘Humanity has transformed the Earth’ said the Financial Times, ‘Frankopan transforms our understanding of history.’
Often described as a ‘rockstar’ academic (BBC, New Statesman, VLT, Der Spiegel) he has been called ‘the first great historian of the 21st century’ by Brazil’s DCM magazine.
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Dr Adam Rutherford is a scientist, writer and broadcaster. He is a lecturer at UCL in Genetics and Society, and is the presenter of several award-winning series and programmes for the BBC, including Radio 4’s Start the Week, The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry. He's lost count of how many books he's written, but some of them are A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, How to Argue With a Racist, and most recently a children's book Where Are You Really From?