Director of Jewish Book Week, Claudia Rubenstein discusses national identity & the position of British Jews with best-selling author Dominic Selwood.

Best-selling author, novelist, historian and barrister Dominic Selwood investigates Britain’s identities from 950,000 BC to the present, examining 50 documents that tell the story of what makes Britain unique, from medieval folk music to Hitler’s kill list of prominent Britons.

From an obscure outpost on the fringes of the Roman world to history’s largest empire and originator of the world’s magpie language – this is Britain’s past. Among the many peoples who have called its islands home, Selwood explores the unique position of Britain’s Jews from the Norman conquest to their expulsion in 1290, the fresh welcome by Oliver Cromwell to hasten the Second Coming of Christ, and the circumstances of the 1917 Balfour declaration, and Britain’s role in the Levant in the years leading to the founding of the State of Israel.

Dominic Selwood is a columnist for the Daily Telegraph, and occasionally writes for The Spectator and other newspapers and magazines. He is the author of a number of bestselling history books and thrillers, including the Ava Curzon cryptothrillers. He speaks at schools, universities, literary festivals, learned societies, and institutions like the British Museum, as well as appearing on television and radio news and documentaries. He has a masters degree from the Sorbonne and a doctorate from Oxford, both in medieval history. He a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Claudia Rubenstein is the director of Jewish Book Week. She is also the author of three books, including a biography of Henry II, King of the North Wind, writing under the pen name, Claudia Gold.