Upcoming Events
Lucy Ash, The Baton and the Cross: Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin
Wigtown Book Festival
The former Moscow correspondent discusses her Orwell Prize-winning exploration of Russia's Orthodox church from pagan times to the age of Putin.
Lucy Ash is in conversation with Jen Stout.
"Spellbinding", Andrei Kurkov.
Friday 3rd October 2025
12pm
Power and Faith in Russia
Cheltenham Literature Festival 2025
The British Academy Book Prize shortlist features powerful non-fiction that deepens our understandings of people and cultures across the world.
Ahead of the winner announcement, prize judge and former BBC Foreign Correspondent Bridget Kendall is joined by Lucy Ash, author of shortlisted title The Baton and the Cross, to discuss the complex ties between religion and politics that have formed Russia, how faith is used today to shape national identity and justify conflict, and how the Russian Orthodox Church became a vital force in Putin's existential war against Ukraine.
Friday 10th October 2025
12.30pm
British Academy Book Prize: 2025 shortlist
Join the shortlisted authors of this year's prize for a dynamic conversation exploring the issues that define our time. These imaginative writers will share insights from their groundbreaking books that deepen our understanding of peoples, cultures and societies, offering fresh perspectives on global challenges, both past and present.
This in conversation will be chaired by award-winning journalising Rosie Goldsmith.
Afterwards there will be opportunities to purchase copies of the shortlisted books from London Review Bookshop and book signing with the authors.
The British Academy
10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AH
Tuesday 21st October 2025
6pm–8pm
A Toxic Embrace: Russia’s Church and State through the Centuries
Sherborne Historical Society
For 1000 years Russia’s Orthodox Church has sought to ensure its survival, its influence and its wealth - whatever the moral cost. It has done the bidding of Muscovy princes, imperial tsars, Politburo members and now Putin whose actions are at odds with the Orthodox faith he claims to hold. His invasion of Ukraine has brought to the fore an angry yearning for a revival of Slav Christian supremacy. Other Eastern Orthodox churches have denounced his vision of Moscow as a Third Rome as a sacrilegious form of nationalism.
Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne.
Thursday 6th November 2025
8pm