White House Communications Director, turned fierce Trump critic, Anthony Scaramucci, is joining us again – after packed talk tents and standing ovations at last year’s festival. This year, he’ll be speaking about the Road to War in the 1920’s and 30’s with our very own James Holland – on Monday evening, 22 June 2026. Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio. He co-hosts two podcasts, “The Rest Is Politics US” and “Open Book,” and has authored six books, including The Little Book of Bitcoin. Prior to SkyBridge, he co-founded Oscar Capital, and worked at Goldman Sachs. Scaramucci was ranked #47 in Cointelegraph’s Top 100 Influencers in Crypto (2022). He served on Donald Trump’s Presidential Transition Team and briefly as White House Communications Director. He holds a BA in Economics from Tufts University and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and one of Britain’s best-known historians and broadcasters. She is the author of bestselling books including SPQR and Pompeii, and has presented numerous acclaimed BBC documentaries on the ancient world.

Alan Titchmarsh is known to millions through his career as a television presenter of shows including Love Your Weekend, Love Your Garden, Ground Force, Gardeners' World, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and ITV's Spring Into Summer. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as eleven novels and three volumes of memoirs. He was awarded a CBE for services to Horticulture and to Charity in the 2025 New Year Honours list. Alan also holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society's highest award.

Al Murray will be making a triumphant return to the festival as both the Pub Landlord and a respected historian.

James Naughtie is one of Britain’s most respected broadcasters and a long-standing presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Over a distinguished career, he has interviewed world leaders, reported from major global events, and shaped political journalism for decades. He is also the author of several books on politics, history, and international affairs.

Sir Antony Beevor FRSL, FRHistS, was a regular officer with the 11th Hussars, he left the Army after five years to write. He has published four novels, and thirteen books of non-fiction. His work has appeared in thirty-five foreign languages and sold more than eight million copies. According to the Bookseller, ‘Beevor is the bestselling historian of the BookScan era’. Stalingrad won the first Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson Prize for History and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature in 1999. Berlin – The Downfall 1945 was a No. 1 Bestseller in seven countries apart from Britain, and in the top five in another nine countries. The book received the first Longman-History Today Trustees’ Award. D-Day – The Battle for Normandy, The Second World War, Ardennes 1944 – Hitler’s Last Gamble, Arnhem – The Battle for the Bridges and his latest book, Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921, were all international bestsellers. He has received numerous honours, awards and honorary degrees and in 2017 was knighted.

Saul David is a best-selling historian and broadcaster. His recent books include Operation Thunderbolt (turned into the movie Entebbe), SBS: Silent Warriors, Devil Dogs and Sky Warriors: British Airborne Forces in the Second World War and his upcoming book, Tunisgrad: Victory in Africa, releases in September. He co-hosts the Battleground podcast with Patrick Bishop.

Alice Loxton is a historian, presenter, and bestselling author who has built a huge global audience through social media and television. She presents BBC history programmes and writes accessible, youth-focused history books including Uproar! and Eighteen. She is one of the most influential young voices in public history today.

Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist, renowned for her writing on communism, authoritarianism, and modern Europe. Her bestselling books include Gulag, Iron Curtain, and Twilight of Democracy. She writes for The Atlantic and is one of the world’s leading commentators on democracy, freedom, and political history.

Gordon Corera is a journalist and writer on intelligence and security issues. From 2004 - 2024, he was the BBC's Security Correspondent where he covered terrorism, cyber security, the work of intelligence agencies and other national security issues. He now co-hosts The Rest is Classified podcast with former CIA analyst and spy novelist, David McCloskey. He recently published 'The Spy in the Archive' - a non-fiction account of a former Soviet Union KGB librarian.

James Holland is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning historian, writer, and broadcaster. The author of many best-selling histories including Fortress Malta, Battle of Britain, Dam Busters, The War In The West, Brothers In Arms, most recently, The Savage Storm. He also writes historical fiction and has presented and written several television programmes. James is co-host of the popular Second World War podcast, We Have Ways Of Making You Talk.