Chiswick Book Festival to Mark 80 Years Since WWII's End
Expanded programme includes talks about wartime resistance and propaganda
Jonathan Freedland is a late addition to the line up. Picture: Philippa Gedge
August 12, 2025
The Chiswick Book Festival will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II this September with a series of talks exploring wartime resistance, propaganda, personal testimony, and historical interpretation. The programme, running from 10–15 September, includes several new additions and changes to the speaker lineup.
Journalist and author Jonathan Freedland has been added to the schedule and will discuss his forthcoming book The Traitors Circle: The Rebels Against the Nazis and the Spy Who Betrayed Them, which recounts the story of a group of Berlin-based anti-Nazi conspirators betrayed to the Gestapo.
Freedland replaces fellow Guardian journalist Julian Borger, who has withdrawn due to work commitments. He will be interviewed by BBC presenter Julian Worricker.
His session is one of several focused on World War II. Chiswick resident Laurence Rees, former head of BBC history programming, will speak about his latest book The Nazi Mind, also chaired by Worricker. Rees is known for his documentaries on Auschwitz and Hitler.
Other sessions include:
- John Willis on The People’s War, a BBC oral history project that collected over 47,000 testimonies from civilians and servicemen. He will be joined by journalist Jane Corbin.
- Taylor Downing, a Latymer Upper School alumnus, will present The Army That Never Was, examining Allied deception tactics ahead of D-Day. He will be in conversation with author and former BBC journalist Alex Gerlis.
- Rosanna Greenstreet and Caroline Cecil Bose will explore wartime correspondence in a joint session on WWII love letters. Greenstreet’s Dear Loll draws on letters between her great-grandparents, while Bose’s We’ve All Life Before Us recounts the story of RAF pilot Bob Keddie and his wife Diana. Their husbands, Matthew Fay and Mihir Bose, will read selected letters aloud.
Both Fay and Bose have longstanding ties to the local community. Fay is involved with the WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project, and Bose is a contributor to The Chiswick Calendar podcast.
The Festival’s 2025 programme also commemorates the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen and the 150th anniversary of Bedford Park. Events will be held at venues including Chiswick House and the George IV pub, with proceeds supporting four charities: St Michael & All Angels Church, Read for Good, Koestler Arts, and Read Easy Ealing.
For programme details and to buy tickets, visit the festival's web site.
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