Meet Effie Gray, the woman at the centre of Victorian England's most scandalous love triangle. In 1854, refusing to tolerate her abusive first marriage to art critic John Ruskin, she requested an annulment and later found happiness with the painter John Everett Millais. Through exclusive access to previously unseen letters and diaries the reality behind this great Victorian love story is revealed.

The Model Wife –Effie, Ruskin and Millais - Duckworth
Sponsored by BBC History Magazine

Based on her successful television series, the chief curator of charity Historic Royal Palaces historian Lucy Worsley is our guide on a journey through British domestic life from the Middle Ages to the present day. In this captivating account, she examines ever-shifting attitudes to privacy, class, cleanliness and technology.

If Walls Could Talk: an intimate history of the home – Faber
Sponsored by BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine editor Dave Musgrove takes us on an historical tour through British history, from the Roman invasion to 1960s Liverpool. He asked foremost British historians to nominate sites they believe to be most important and travelled to each, from the Tower of London and Runnymede, to Jarrow, home of The Venerable Bede. Each essay adds another layer to our understanding of Britain's story, whether in politics, religion, law or culture.

100 Places that Made Britain – BBC Books
Sponsored by BBC History Magazine

'There never was a Churchill from John of Marlborough down who had either morals or principles,' said Gladstone. Their history is indeed colourful, from the First Duke of Marlborough - soldier of genius and cuckolder of Charles II - onwards, they have been politicians, gamblers, heroes and womanisers. But this is also a family that produced the towering figure of Winston, seen by many as the greatest Briton.

The Churchills: A family at the Heart of History – Little, Brown
Sponsored by BBC History Magazine

Two wheels. A frame. Two pedals. What could be simpler than a bicycle? Thousands now cycle to work, and more take it up every day. In trial after trial, it is the bike which reaches its urban destination faster than the car, the bus, the underground or the pedestrian. But what is it about the bicycle that so enchants us? And why do its devotees become so obsessed with it? Acclaimed and prize-winning author and cyclist
Bella Bathurst takes us on a journey through cycling's best stories and strangest
incarnations, from the bicycle as weapon of twentieth-century warfare to the secret life of couriers and the alchemy of framebuilding. The result is a story of passion and obsession, of exultation, endeavour, and risk.

The Bicycle Book – HarperPress

A ever-popular Festival speaker, the former editor of the Daily Telegraph talks about his latest book on the Second World War. As a highly respected historian his view of this horrifying conflict in which 27,000 people died every day from 1939 to 1945 is both important and moving. He brings together many different human stories, and touches on
almost every country in the world. While it is impossible to compare the suffering of people during WWII, there were some aspects of wartime experience that were universal: fear and grief; the conscription of young men and women wrenched from their homes, genocide and mass migration.

All Hell Let Loose – Harper Collins
Sponsored by Baillie Gifford

The ever popular River Readings are back. Drift along the river in the company of some excellent readers. The words are chosen by Nansi Diamond who directs the Readings. The cast of writers includes: Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Spike Milligan, Philip Larkin, Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, Ogden Nash, e.e. cummings and John Betjeman. The boat leaves from Hobbs boatyard. Boarding starts from 10.30am and 12.30pm.
The readings are hosted by: Tues Sept 27 - Helen Lederer, Wed Sept 28 - Nigel Starmer Smith, Thursday Sept 29 - Jeremy Child, Friday Sep 30 - Donald Trelford, Sunday Oct 2 - Jeremy Child.
Amongst those reading are : Sally Nesbitt, Mike Hurst, Philippa Tozer, Jane Robins, Richard Howard, Clive Franks, Nicola Holllis and Lottie Ferguson

Sponsored by Hotel du Vin & Bistro Henley-on-Thames

In a wonderful mix of fact and fiction Daisy proves that the Waugh writing tradition is alive and well. The daughter of Auberon and granddaughter of Evelyn, her latest book charts an unusual romance between Londoner Jenny Doyle and the greatest movie star of the day Rudolph Valentino. Superbly researched it evokes the spirit of the 20s' and the aura of an iconic film actor. It also proves the all-round talents of the author who is a regular TV and radio presenter and travel writer as well as having been an agony aunt for The Independent. Anne Sebba's new book is a biography of Wallis Simpson and is a fascinating look at the life of a woman who became a byword for style and whose love for the prince who would be King changed the history of the British monarchy.

Daisy Waugh - Last Dance with Valentino – Harper Collins, Anne Sebba - That Woman a biography of Wallis Simpson - Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Sponsored by HW FisherSunday

One of the world's best-selling authors comes to Henley giving a rare opportunity for his enthusiastic readers to meet the man himself. His unrelenting run of worldwide best-sellers - 32 at the last count - makes him one of the world's most prolific and skilled storytellers. Probably best-known for his African and Egyptian series of books, his latest novel is set in the Indian Ocean where a group of pirates kidnap the 19 year-old daughter of a multi-millionaire oil mogul. A chance to meet a great storyteller who once said: "Until it is written a book is merely smoke on the wind. It can be blown away by a careless word." He should know.....
Those in Peril - Macmillan

One of the most familiar faces on television from his work on Eastenders and in Gavin and Stacey admits that acting wasn't a long-held childhood dream. Instead his childhood memories are filled with recollections of his parents continuously fighting. His mother moved out with his young sister and he was brought up by the father who tormented him. From this fraught background to his starring roles makes a tale that is heartrending, very honest and hugely entertaining. It goes from Essex to Broadway, Hollywood and the West End and could almost make for a play in itself.

Mummy's Boy – My Autobiography – Coronet
Sponsored by The Lamb

John Murray have brought three of the leading writers together with Fiction
Publisher Kate Parkin for a very special workshop. Under the title "Writing
the Past: Fact and Fiction in historical novels" it is a unique opportunity to
learn many of the secrets and skills of writing from those
who really know.

Rory Clements is the author of three bestselling crime novels series set in the
Elizabethan era featuring intelligencer John Shakespeare, brother of the more
famous Will. He won the 2010 Ellis Peters prize for his second novel Revenger.
His third novel, Prince, was published in April to great critical acclaim. After
a career in national newspapers he lives in a 17th century Norfolk farmhouse
and writes full time. When not immersing himself in the Elizabethan world, he
enjoys village life and a game of tennis with friends. www.roryclements.com.

TV presenter and producer Sanjida O'Connell is the author of four acclaimed
novels. Her latest, Sugar Island, is based on a true story and tells of a young
English actress who marries a Southern slave-owner just before the outbreak
of the American Civil War. Evocative and shocking in equal measure, The
Times called it 'gripping, entertaining and entirely on the side of the angels'. Dr
O'Connell who has also written three works of non-fiction, lives in Bristol with
her husband and young daughter. www.sanjida.co.uk.

Author of four historical novels, including the bestselling The Glassblower
of Murano, Marina Fiorator's latest, Daughter of Siena, was published in
September. Set in 18th century Italy and based around Siena's celebrated horse
race, the Palio, it is a compelling read, steeped in the culture and traditions of
the time. Born in Manchester and raised in the Yorkshire Dales, Marina is half-
Venetian and was married on the Grand Canal. She lives in North London with
her husband, son and daughter. www.marinafiorato.com

Fiction Publisher Kate Parkin joined John Murray in 2006 after a career
including eleven years at Random House. She is particularly interested in literary
thrillers, crime novels and historical fiction and most enjoys helping new writers
tell their stories.

Through her columns in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday Liz has become one of the country's best-known journalists. Never short of an opinion or a cutting comment, she details her innermost thoughts and has even shared her diary of a face-lift. Fearless and frank she follows in the great tradition of female Fleet Street columnists telling it just like it is, not least in her books Liz Jones's Diary: How One Single Girl Got Married and The Exmoor Files: How I Lost A Husband And Found Rural Bliss. Together with fellow columnist Lucy Cavendish, she reveals how they go about their work and whether they ever regret anything they have written.

Sponsored by The Really Good Deal Fashion Shows

Laid low by illness last year the talented broadcaster and writer keeps his promise to return to Henley. Whether on Newsnight or BBC News 24 he is one of the most familiar faces on the BBC. Glasgow-born, he began his career as a newspaper journalist before going into broadcasting, and today he talks about his work in progress, a new non-fiction book The Power of Stories about what leaders tell us and why we believe them. He will also discuss his successful novel, Power Play set at the end of the Obama
administration, which describes the impact on the US-British special relationship of the disappearance of the Vice President on a visit to Scotland. A thriller with a twist.

Power Play - Harper Collins
Sponsored by HW Fisher

The End of the Affair was one of Graham Greene's greatest novels and was published 60 years ago. Its personal content has made it a novel of endless speculation by both writers and academics.William Cash wrote 'The Third Woman', an account of Greene's relationship with Catherine Watson. Today he discusses with academic Dr Lara Feigel the effect his relationship had on the novel and Greene's lasting influence in English literature.

Sponsored by Spears Magazine

One of television's great personalities Johnny became a favourite through a succession of innovative and extremely popular programmes like Think of a Number. His professional success may have begun as a comedian in the sixties but his great achievement was blowing away the myths that maths and science were 'difficult' subjects. He now contributes to his daughter Zoe's BBC Radio 2 programme and the puzzles he has set form his fascinating new book. A master communicator who will delight with his humour and test your mind with his numeracy skills.

Ball of Confusion – Icon Books

The Queen celebrates her diamond jubilee next year – a time to reflect on her extraordinary reign and her place amongst the great monarchs. The Daily Mail journalist who has closely followed the Royal family explores the secrets of the Queen's success to produce a fascinating new portrait of a sovereign who has witnessed more change than any since the creation of Great Britain. She is the oldest sovereign this country has ever known but she has travelled further than all her predecessors put together. Having inherited a quasi-Edwardian institution nearly sixty years ago, the Queen presides over a monarchy which has managed to remain, simultaneously, popular, regal, inclusive and relevant in a twenty-first-century world.

Our Queen – Hutchinson