In March 1943 the code breakers at Bletchley Park, Britain's top secret intelligence station, are facing their worst nightmare. Nazi U boats have unexpectedly changed the code by which they communicate with each other and German High Command. An Allied merchant shipping convoy crossing the Atlantic with 10,000 passengers and vital supplies is in danger of attack. 

The authorities turn for help to Tom Jericho, a brilliant young mathematician and code breaker. Unknown to his colleagues, Jericho (Dougray Scott) has another equally baffling enigma of his own to unravel. Claire, the woman with whom he has fallen in love, has disappeared from Bletchley just when the authorities suspect there may be a spy at the Park. To get to the bottom of both mysteries he enlists the help of Hester, Claire's best friend (Kate Winslet). Together they keep one step ahead of the secret services and investigate Claire's mysterious life, reaching a conclusion that uncovers international and personal betrayals. Also starring Jeremy Northam and Saffron Burrows.

The largest celebration of history in the UK, The Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival is set to return from the afternoon of Wednesday 23 rd to the evening of Sunday 27 th June. Taking place at its spectacular venue in Broad Chalke, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, it will be one of the first big ‘live’ events of the summer, starting just two days after the proposed lifting of Covid restrictions on 21 st June.

After much consultation with the relevant authorities and key stakeholders, the five- day event - made possible after receiving a generous grant from the Arts Council Culture Recovery Fund - will take place in accordance with Government guidelines, with strict health and safety regulations in place where necessary.

As an outdoor festival, many of the planned activities will be centred around two big marquees and two new stages that will host talks as well as the large tents. The festival will offer its usual amazing line-up of talks, topical debates, living history and activities for children, with eminent historians and household names all bringing history to life.

James Holland, Festival Chair, said: “We are incredibly excited about the festival’s return. It will be the first big family event to take place in nearly 18 months, and I know the general public, currently starved of real-life festivals, are desperate to get back to some kind of normality. This will be a fabulous chance for families to go out, have fun, meet friends across the spacious layout of the site, to soak up some culture in a safe environment. It goes without saying that the safety of all those attending will be our upmost priority. The programme is going to be wide-ranging with lots to see and do, and we really can’t wait to welcome everyone back!”

There will not be a physical Festival for Schools this year. Instead, the festival will be creating a wealth of specifically generated content ready for the start of the academic year in September. This will include filming curriculum-based talks from leading academics and historians relevant for students in Years 10 and 12, and also delivering a mass of filmed material for Years 6, 7, and 8. In this way the festival will provide a long-term, free digital resource in line with the aims of the Chalke Valley History Trust.

John Glen, local MP for Salisbury, said: “The Chalke Valley History Festival is one of the jewels in the crown of the area’s cultural life. It is wonderful news that it can proceed this year. It will be a huge boost to the morale of both history buffs and the many local businesses, which supply and support the festival.”

The full programme, and more detailed information about what’s in store this year, will be unveiled very soon. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 19 th May.

Talks given by incredible historians, taken from the past ten years of the festival, can now be heard on the Chalke Valley History Festival podcast. Entitled #ChalkeTalk, the podcasts are released three times a week.

The Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival will take place at Church Bottom, Broad Chalke, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 5DS.

For more details about the Festival, please visit www.cvhf.org.uk Follow all the news on Twitter at @CVHISTORYFEST and on Facebook and Instagram.

From the producer of Django Unchained comes Emperor, an inspirational and timely portrait of courage and resilience set during a turbulent time in American history.
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This epic story is inspired by the legend of 19th century freedom fighter, Shields "Emperor" Green (Dayo Okeniyi, The Hunger Games, Shades of Blue), a descendant of African kings turned outlaw slave in the pre-Civil War South.

A man fighting to free his family and bring an end to tyranny, Emperor fights his way north, joining forces with abolitionist John Brown for a daring raid on Harper's Ferry, helping to alter the course of American history in the process.

An action-packed and powerful epic shining a light on one of history’s unsung heroes, Emperor also stars Ben Robson (Animal Kingdom, Vikings), Academy Award® nominee James Cromwell (The Young Pope, The Green Mile), Kat Graham (All Eyez on Me, The Vampire Diaries) and Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nominee Bruce Dern (The Hateful Eight, Nebraska).

Inside History was fortunate enough to talk to Writer/Director, Mark Amin about the new movie and how movies often take a different view on bringing history to the big screen. We also chatted to Dayo Okeniyi about bringing Shields Green to life in the movie. Both of these interviews will be a part of our next issue which focuses on the theme of Protest, Revolt & Reform which will be released in May as part of our article on John Brown and the raid on Harpers Ferry. 

Emperor is released on Amazon Prime Video on 1st March with a DVD release on 5th April

Stream the movie on Amazon by clicking here: Emperor Movie

Dazzler Media presents the epic, action-packed and suspenseful new war film Torpedo: U-235 on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from 8th March.
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“Great, memorable action scenes” ★★★★ The Action Elite
“A riveting war film about unsung heroes” World Film Geek
“Holy hell did I love it” Nightmarish Conjurings

In this epic cinematic adventure, resistance fighters accept a suicide mission to deliver uranium from the Belgian Congo in a stolen Nazi submarine to the United States. Hunted by Hitler’s army, the crew must outwit the German navy to bring the cargo safely to America.

Filled with exhilarating action, suspense and a great ensemble cast headlined by Koen De Bouw (The Last Tycoon), Thure Riefenstein (12 Monkeys) and Ella-June Henrard (Admiral), Torpedo: U-235 is one of the most exciting war films of the year, from new writer-director Sven Huybrechts.
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​Dazzler Media presents Torpedo: U-235 on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from 8th March

Pre-order on Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/Torpedo-U-235-Blu-Ray/dp/B08WJN2SL9
Pre-order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/movie/torpedo-u-235/id1552715356

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​The Royal Mint has today (Thursday 4th February) announced they have acquired an incredibly rare, 500-year-old, gold Sovereign and the coin will be put up for auction early next month. 
 
The Royal Mint’s historic coin experts have sourced a Type 2 Henry VII Sovereign, one of a select few in the world that are not held by a museum. The Henry VII Fine Gold Sovereign of Twenty Shillings is the earliest gold Sovereign a collector can own and there are only two examples in private ownership, making it a rare and historic addition to a collection.  Struck more than 500 years ago, this exceptionally rare coin was created to assert the authority of the first Tudor king of England through its splendour and impressive weight and size. Bids will open at £950,000 for the sought-after coin. 
 
Famous for making new coins, The Royal Mint successfully expanded into the sale of rare, historic coins two years ago. The company now helps customers track down rare examples to add to their collection, and authenticate coins on the secondary market using their unique experience in British coinage.
 
Rebecca Morgan, Divisional Director of Collector Services, comments: “We are delighted to have acquired such a rare coin which traces its history to the first Tudor king. The survival rate of these gold coins is miniscule, and this particular coin is the earliest example of a gold Sovereign that a collector can own. Our experts have checked and validated the coin, and there are just two left in private ownership – making this an incredibly exciting addition to a collection.

​Rebecca continues: “The Royal Mint was originally based at The Tower of London, and this coin would have been hand struck on ‘Mint Street’ – which still stands today.  What makes this coin even more fascinating is that we can trace its ownership back to the 1800’s. One notable owner of the coin was the world-renowned banker J. P. Morgan, who owned the coin until his death in 1913 with subsequent sale in 1915.
 
“We have seen many customers buying historic coins to bring purpose to their collection, either as an investment for the future or an heirloom to pass onto the next generation.  Our Collector Services division is growing year on year, and with 1,100 years of expertise, the team here at The Royal Mint can help enrich and enhance any coin collection.  We set the record for the sale of a British historic coin at £1 million last year - so who knows, perhaps this might beat the record.”
The gold Sovereign of Twenty Shillings was first introduced in the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII (1485-1509) 1489 over 500 years ago.  The coin depicts the crowned Tudor King seated on a wooden throne, in robes, holding an orb and sceptre, the reverse shows the quartered shield of England upon a Tudor rose.  Henry VII started the Tudor dynasty and was determined to cement his position.  He was the father on the infamous Henry VIII, and grandfather to Elizabeth I.
 
The coin was acquired by The Royal Mint’s Collector Services division, that offers a range of services including authentication and valuation, accessories to care for and display treasured pieces, an unrivalled coin finder service, providing the safety and security of 1100 years of knowledge to go out into the secondary market and find the missing pieces from collections, help to fill the gaps or find that one rare piece a customer has always wanted.

​Coin Specifications
·         This coin was commissioned by Henry VII to be produced from 28th October 1489, over 500 years ago
·         The Sovereign was the largest hammered gold coin of the Tudor period, approximately 40mm across in diameter, a millimetre thick, at a weight of approximately 15.3 grammes.
·         The coin was issued in gold of approximately 23 1/3 carat fineness (0.995 fine)
·         The coin has been assessed and graded by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation as “AU50” guaranteeing the state of preservation to be “almost uncirculated 50”
·         The chain of ownership of this coin can be traced back to the Victorian era through six, named collectors.
 
How to Bid
The online auction will take place on 4 March 2021 and those wishing to bid will need to pay a £20,000 deposit*. This is the first in a series of online auctions that will be held by The Royal Mint and there is no buyer’s premium. If you would like to take part in the auction as a bidder or observer, take note of the following steps and register your interest by midnight on Monday, 1 March 2021.
 
To register, visit www.royalmint.com/auction/
 
*Please note that the £20,000 deposit is fully refundable to bidders who are unsuccessful in acquiring the coin at auction.

Chalke Valley History Festivals have been awarded £260,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure the Chalke Valley History Festival and its Festival for Schools have a sustainable future, the Culture Secretary has announced today.

Chalke Valley History Festivals is one of 1,385 cultural and creative organisations across the country receiving urgently needed support. £257 million of investment has been announced today as part of the very first round of the Culture Recovery Fund grants programme being administered by Arts Council England. Further rounds of funding in the cultural and heritage sector are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

​The Chalke Valley History Festival is a unique celebration of history that includes talks, performance, music, living history, and story-telling, covering a very broad range of subjects from the deep past to the near present, and through many different perspectives. It is the largest festival in the UK (perhaps the world) devoted entirely to history and attracts a local, regional, national and international audience. The festival is owned by a charitable trust set up to promote the
understanding and inspiration of the past to the widest possible audience of all ages but especially children through the Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools which runs concurrently.

In the decade since the festival has been running, we have brought a major cultural event to south-west Wiltshire - there is no rural-based cultural festival of this scale anywhere else in the area. It attracts some 25,000-30,000 people annually and also provides a large number of jobs and boosts the local economy; we use local businesses as far as we possibly can.

Over a week, visitors enjoy a blend of talks, discussions and debates, alongside a vast through-the-ages living history encampment featuring interactive events and, at the weekend, air displays of historic aircraft. The festival is noted for the range of performers it attracts from leading academics and nationally renowned figures to the best living historians. In addition to political, social, economic and military history, experts in the history of art, music, theatre and literature educate and entertain the audience.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 festival and the attendant costs already incurred, without the funding from the Arts Council Culture Recovery Fund we were planning a greatly reduced festival for 2021 which would not have included the Festival for Schools. This funding will enable us to mount the Festival, including the Festival for Schools, with social distancing measures in place (provided, of course, that holding a festival at all complies with Government guidelines) from 21-27 June 2021.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

“This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery. 

“These places and projects are cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country. This unprecedented investment in the arts is proof this Government is here for culture, with further support to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the culture sector can bounce back strongly.”

Chair, Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota, said:

“Theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages. This life-changing funding will save thousands of cultural spaces loved by local communities and international audiences. Further funding is still to be announced and we are working hard to support our sector during these challenging times.”

Festival Director, Jane Pleydell-Bouverie, said:

“We are absolutely delighted and so grateful to have received funding thanks to the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. We passionately believe that it is only by learning about the past that we can make sense of the present and prepare for the future so this grant will enable us to continue to mount the Festival for Schools alongside the main Chalke Valley History Festival programme.”

​Royal Museums Greenwich is pleased to announce the reopening of the Queen’s House Gallery at the National Maritime Museum on 10 August 2020. The announcement follows the news that Cutty Sark reopened on 20 July, and the north side of the Royal Observatory Greenwich will reopen on 3 August 2020. The Peter Harrison Planetarium will reopen at a later date. 

In addition to some of the treasures of the Queen’s House, including artworks by Reynolds and Canaletto visitors will have the unique opportunity to see the three surviving Armada portraits side-by-side. Faces of a Queen: The Armada Portraits of Elizabeth I will run until 31 August 2020. This is the first time the three surviving portraits have been displayed together in their 430-year history. 

Afterwards, two Armada portraits will remain on display, accompanied by a new intervention, Call and Response by sound artist Peter Adjaye, encouraging new perceptions of the hidden histories implicit in the portrait and its contemporary legacies. 

Additionally, Woburn Treasures has been extended until Easter 2021. This exhibition is a major collaboration, which will see significant works from the private art collection of The Duke and Duchess of Bedford on show in the Queen’s House. The collaboration marks the first time significant collection pieces have been on public display in a national museum since the 1950s.  
 
Considered to be one of the most important art collections still in private hands, the Woburn Abbey loans comprise of over 20 works by distinguished artists such as Van Dyck, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Poussin and Canaletto. The artworks hang alongside significant works from the renowned national collection of Royal Museums Greenwich.  

The visitor experience team have been working hard to ensure the Queen’s House is safe to welcome back visitors. Hand sanitisers will be available throughout the site and staff and signage will be located around the site to ensure guests are observing social distancing. Visitors are being encouraged to wear face masks while on site. 

Although the Queen’s House remains free to enter, tickets must be purchased in advance to ensure social distancing can be maintained. Pre-booked time slots ensure that visits can be adequately spread throughout the day and sites do not exceed capacity. Tickets will go on sale from 3 August 2020. 

Also on the 10 August, the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 exhibition at the National Maritime Museum will reopen. This exhibition showcases the spectacular imagery from the 2019 competition from across our Solar System, galaxy and the wider universe, including ‘Into the Shadow’, the overall winner by Hungarian photographer László Francsics which depicts the 35 phases of the total lunar eclipse that occurred on 21 January. Advance booking is essential. Tickets go on sale on 3 August 2020. 

The rest of the National Maritime Museum will reopen later in the summer. Royal Museums Greenwich will continue to monitor the situation closely and base its approach on advice received from the Government and Public Health England. 

The Queen’s House | https://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house  ​