From her Sussex farmhouse home, Sarah combines gardening and writing recipes with consummate ease. Her latest book contains over 400 dishes for family and friends, from Easter lunches and summer picnics to roasting rose flavoured marshmallows round a bonfire. It gives you the chance to ask how you too can make culinary delights that range from Beetroot tart with horseradish cream to Sesame salmon with pea pesto and from Blackcurrant mousse ice cream to plum syllabub.

Sarah Raven’s Food for Friends and Family - Bloomsbury.
Sponsored by Coutts & Co

That Shirley Williams entered politics was no surprise given the activism of her parents - her mother Vera Brittain, her father Sir George Caitlin. But no one could have foreseen the impact she would make, firstly as a Labour minister, then as one of the ‘Gang of Four’ that broke away to form the Social Democrats. She was the first elected SDP MP and later encouraged their union with the Liberals. Now a Baroness, she was Lib Dem leader in the House of Lords. Today she will be interviewed by former Observer editor Donald Trelford

Climbing the Bookshelves: The Autobiography of Shirley Williams Virago Press

Africa has always intrigued writers and both these men and their subjects have been drawn to it. It is fitting that in the centenary of Thesiger’s birth, one of its great explorers is celebrated in Maitland’s moving celebration of his enduring relationship with the continent, Wilfred Thesiger in Africa – HarperPress. These essays explore Thesiger’s lifetime of travel in Africa, as well as, for the first time, his photography. Maitland was a close friend of Thesiger for 40 years and edited his anthology. Graham Greene was the inspiration for Butcher’s new book. When he trekked for 350 miles through Sierra Leone and Liberia in 1935, he travelled with 26 bearers and a case of Scotch - the result being the travel classic Journey Without Maps. For his Chasing the Devil - The Search for Africa’s Fighting Spirit - Chatto former Daily Telegraph writer Butcher followed Greene’s journey through two countries bedevilled by brutal violence – child soldiers, prisoner mutilation, and blood diamonds.

Sponsored by HW Fisher

The Free Range Poets are a group of talented locally based poets led by Bridget Fraser, Director of ARTSPACE. Come and hear them read from their own works as you drift down the river, cup of coffee in hand.

We can now confirm that the cast for this reading will include John O'Sullivan.

Sponsored by HW Fisher

If you saw the fabulously entertaining television documentary about Johnson’s arrival in the staid world of The Lady magazine, you will appreciate that her diary of life as editor of the oh-so-traditional publication will not be dull. And as Boris’s sister you would hardly expect her to be anything but full-on fun. As she says of her role: ‘Every day here is like an episode of posh EastEnders. I’d be crazy not to start keeping a note about what was going on....’ Lucy Cavendish undertakes the enviable role of interviewer.

A Diary of the Lady - Fig Tree
Sponsored by Coutts & Co

In the latest instalment of his widely acclaimed diaries, former Labour MP Chris Mullin charts the decline and fall of the Labour government. It is an insider’s account of the demise of Tony Blair, the Great Expenses Crisis, the impact of the global financial meltdown and the dying days of the Brown government. Mullin’s A View from the Foothills was described as ‘the most wickedly indiscreet and elegant memoirs since those of Alan Clark’. Leading journalist Kim Fletcher wil be interviewing the controversial diarist.

Decline and Fall - Profile Books

1936 began, as Chips Channon noted, in gloom, with King George V dying and Kipling, another pillar of the establishment, dead. Social and constitutional crisis threatened, while in Europe, the dictators were on the march. It was the year of the abdication and civil war in Spain. This compelling book retells the tumultuous times that changed Britain, through the intimate diaries and memoirs of shopkeepers, socialites, bishops, the unemployed, housewives and hostesses, journalists, politician and poets. Blakeway will be interviewed by Dave Musgrove, editor of the BBC History magazine.

The Last Dance (1936-39) - John Murray

The linguistics expert and writer will be interviewed by the Daily Telegraph's Gillian Reynolds as he takes us on an enthralling journey to explain how English came to rule the world of language. It then became Globish - a modern form used in the world of commerce and business which uses about 1,500 English words to construct short, simple sentences, with speakers making up for the loss of meaning with increased gesticulation.

Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language - Viking

Relax, have a cup of coffee, admire the view and enjoy the wonders of the spoken word. Nothing typifies the values and traditions of the Festival more than the River Readings. Some of the greatest poetry written is about love and war and this year Nansi Diamond has made her evocative selection of prose and poetry from this rich creative seam. Join our host, poet and writer John O'Sullivan along with Lucy Fleming and Richard Howard as the boat drifts gently downstream and enjoy some of the greatest lines ever written.

Village life is key to Oxfordshire, so Clive Aslet’s latest book will have a very special resonance in Henley. His journey takes him to the quirky places that have shaped the countryside - from the Gloucestershire village which lives by anarchic principles to the Morayshire settlement where Hogmanay is celebrated 11 days late and the Pembrokeshire fishing hamlet that inspired Dylan Thomas. Sue Herdman ,editor of the National Trust magazine, is the interviewer.

Villages that Made the Countryside - Bloomsbury
Sponsored by Coutts & Co

Our age is so obsessed by the idea that nothing is quite what it seems that every major event has a conspiracy theory chasing along behind it. They attach themselves to subjects like the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, the moon landings and the death of Princess Diana. Interviewed by the Daily Telegraph's Mick Brown the award-winning journalist looks into the world of conspiracy theories and analyses how they start, how they are driven and the effect they can have, exploding a dozen of the most popular along the way.

Voodoo Histories - Vintage

Kate Figes, author of the successful Life After Birth and The Terrible Teens turns her attention to couples – all 120 of them who were interviewed for Couples: The Truth– Virago Press. The interviews are astonishingly honest and frank, detailing the ups and downs of the relationships with the expectations of romance, commitment, equality, fidelity and happiness ever after. In The English Marriage: Tales of Love, Money and Adultery – John Murray, historian Maureen Waller uses intimate personal stories, letters, diaries, advice books and court documents to follow the tortuous journey of matrimony from the 15th to the 20th century. Writer Lesley Garner is the interviewer.

Frank Johnson’s widow Virginia undertook the mammoth task of selecting the finest pieces of his writing from more than 30 years work with the Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Spectator. As a parliamentary sketch writer his wit, sharp observations and satire were without equal. He was the man who made Norman Tebbit the Chingford Strangler and Dennis Skinner the Beast of Bolsover, and his reference to Margaret Thatcher having ‘dimples of iron’ led to her becoming the Iron Lady. Journalist Kim Fletcher asks the questions.

The Best Seat in the House; the Wit and Parliamentary Chronicles of Frank Johnson - JR Books

As a child travelling the world with her diplomat stepfather, Josceline Dimbleby spent much of her time in exotic kitchens watching cooks use an array of herbs and spices to transform food. In her memoir she explores the food influences of her rich and varied life and provides an outstanding collection of exciting recipes gathered from her travels. From Rose petal tart from Syria to Peruvian potatoes, from Bosphorus mussel stew to Marrakesh meatballs, it is a fabulous and nourishing journey which she will recount with interviewer John O'Sullivan.

Orchards in the Oasis - Quadrille Publishing
Sponsored by Coutts & Co

Creator of fictional minister Francis Urquhart in the House of Cards (‘You might think that, I couldn’t possibly comment’) Workaholic Dobbs’ writing career includes seven Parliamentary novels and five Historical novels and now the third in the Harry Jones thriller series following the derring-do of our SAS-trained politician. All this and he also managed to fit in being Chief of Staff and later Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and writing regular newspapers columns. Writer and film-maker Paul Bryers asks the questions.

The Reluctant Hero - Simon and Shuster.
Sponsored by HW Fisher

The Festival tries to cover every aspect of writing, and authors are as keenly interested in maximising their profits as they are in the creative process. At this special event, accountancy expert Barry Kernon – of specialist financial advisers HW Fisher & Company – explains how to negotiate the minefield that has been created by our tax legislation. He acts for a great many authors, journalists and others in the media world. To be invited to this event please contact festival organisers.

Few people can claim to have met the Pope once, let alone regularly, but then Father Collins has worked at the Vatican and has an intimate knowledge of the Papal City. To coincide with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain, he reveals the remarkable inside story of the man born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927, his childhood in Nazi Germany where he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth, his road to becoming a cardinal, and his election as Pope. It makes for an extraordinary biography told by one who really knows. With the controversies that the Pope has had to confront over child abuse in the Catholic church and his life in war-time Germany, his is a continually fascinating story.

Pope Benedict XVI: Successor to Peter - Columba Press

No one who listened to John O’Sullivan at last year’s Festival will forget his passion, his humour, his intensity and that wonderful lilting Irish voice as he read his very personal poems. This extraordinary man, born in Sligo, toured the world and went to 55 countries before settling in Bali.

Four hundred years of cricket give Hughes a wonderful backdrop for a very different history of the game. A respected commentator and writer, he won four county championships with Middlesex and took nearly 500 first-class wickets. He recalls playing with Phil Tufnell, who one day announced that his wife had popped out for a pint of milk three weeks earlier and had not returned. ‘Christ, are you managing OK?’ he was asked. ‘Yeah, I’m using powdered for the moment.’ Sunday Telegraph literary editor and textbook batsman, Mike Prodger is the interviewer for this event in the club's new pavilion....and the bar will be open.

And God Created Cricket- An Irreverent History of the English Game and How Other People (Like Australians) Got Annoyingly Good at It - Doubleday

To many, Ron Moody’s portrayal of Fagin in the musical Oliver! was just how the role should be played. It certainly earned him a wealth of plaudits, an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe, and a place in British film history. Not bad for a man who trained as an accountant before taking to the stage. Now he has written his memoirs which are a riveting account of a career spanning more than half a century. Interviewed by former showbiz journalist Rod Gilchrist, Moody may not dwell on turning down the role of Doctor Who, but he has a thousand tales from a career that has encompassed everything from the West End stage to Hollywood and even EastEnders.

A Still Untitled, Not Quite Autobiography - JR Books