Preview: Military History Conference

On Saturday, October 20th the Imperial War Museum in London plays host to a conference on military history. Organised by the Friends of the Imperial War Museum, and sponsored by History Today, Endeavour Press and the University of Buckingham, the conference speakers include General Sir Mike Jackson, Nigel Jones and Sinclair McKay. Full details can be found on the Imperial War Museum website.

Tickets cost £45 / £35 IWM members / £25 students, and can be purchased by calling 020 7416 5372/5255.

Here's the full line-up for the day:

11.00 Registration and coffee

11.15 Warfare: Past & Present 

Paul Lay, editor of History Today, interviews General Sir Mike Jackson. General Jackson will be asked about his thoughts on the strategies and Generals of the Second World War, as well as discuss how his interest in military history shaped his own career.

12.15pm Lunch (delegates should make own arrangements)

13.30 Debate: How the Western Front was Won?

Nigel Jones, Peter Caddick-Adams and Max Arthur discuss Field Marshal Haig and the end of the First World War. How much can it be argued that British forces won the war, or to what extent did Germany defeat itself?

14.30 Code Breakers and Secret Listeners: Sinclair McKay in conversation with Paul Lay

Sinclair McKay, authorof The Secret Life of Bletchley Park and The Secret Listeners, will talk on the secret history of both the code breakers and the Listening Service at Bletchley Park – a team of young men and women based across the world in every theatre of war who intercepted and transcribed with a speed few have ever managed since, so that code breakers could turn the course of the war – from the perspective of the men and women who were involved.