Our Onboard Experts
Guest speakers will accompany many of our tours and add to your enjoyment of the areas you are visiting through a series of talks and informal discussions on board. Either as a specialist on the area or in a specific field, their onboard talks will bring an added dimension to the tour, complementing the guides who will share their local knowledge with you during your excursions. With backgrounds in areas such as music, art history, maritime history and archaeology, they will truly bring to life the sites and experiences of your journey. Whether during an informed evening lecture on the life of Mozart, whilst accompanying you ashore to the ruins of Ephesus, or standing on deck watching a calving glacier, their knowledge will help you to make the most of your journey.
Our expedition cruises are led by a highly experienced expedition team, including guest speakers. To fully appreciate many of the diverse and remote regions that are visited on our expedition cruises, the staff onboard are one of the most important aspects of the trip and help you understand all that you see. For each voyage, we carefully select the best experts in their field who will lead you every step of the way with their knowledge and enthusiasm. These may include ornithologists, naturalists, marine biologists as well as Zodiac drivers and expedition leaders. Through onboard briefings, informal presentations, whilst accompanying you ashore and on Zodiac excursions, they will share their in-depth knowledge of the wildlife, landscape and natural and cultural history of the region.
On the majority of our small ship and river cruises you will be joined by a Cruise Director and you will be accompanied by one of our experienced Tour Managers when undertaking one of our escorted land tours. Our Cruise Directors and Tour Managers have many years of experience and are in daily contact with our London office to ensure the smooth operation of your holiday. The daily programme is in their capable hands and whenever possible they will host daily briefings to provide you with information on the next day’s activities.
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A versatile musician and educator, Adrian Finnerty is a highly qualified and experienced teacher, lecturer, com...
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Phil Wilkinson’s 40 years in the Royal Air Force (RAF) involved thousands of hours in the air – in ...
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Alan Mason NDT. F.Inst.G. Dip.Hort. M.CI. Hort. is one of Europe’s most experienced and best qualified ga...
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Alexandra Edwards has been carrying out archaeological fieldwork and ethnographic studies in Rapa Nui (a.k.a. E...
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Amanda Holden started work as a professional accompanist while teaching the piano at the Guildhall School in Lo...
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Andrew Joynes (MA Oxon; MA London) is a former BBC current affairs producer who now works as a freelance writer...
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Andrew traces his interest in geology and love of nature to summers spent in New England, where he hiked in the...
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Andrés Hernández-Salazar began his musical studies in his native Venezuela and was awarded a Brit...
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Andy Bunten has been an obsessive enthusiast about wildlife ever since he can remember. Educated at ...
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Anne Sebba is the author of eleven books including the best-selling biography THAT WOMAN, a life of Wallis Simp...
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Anne-Marie Harrison was born and brought up in Paris but has subsequently lived in many different countries. Or...
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Anthea turned her hobby into a career. She entered her first show garden for the Royal Horticultural
So...
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Ben Howkins has spent a lifetime career in the wine industry. He has experienced massive changes in how the ins...
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Bob Smolik is a veteran diplomat who has represented the United States at embassies throughout Europe and at in...
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Brian has enjoyed a lifetime of artistic exploration and learning, pursuing parallel careers as a modern lingui...
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Canon David Nason has recently retired from the role of Priest Vicar in Chichester Cathedral and that of Senior...
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Captain Peter Hore served worldwide as a logistician in the Royal Navy before spending ten years in the film an...
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Caroline Holmes is a garden historian of places, people and plants, a speaker, author of 12 books, TV and radio...
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Chris Bradley is a graduate of the University of Liverpool specialising in the Middle East and North Africa hav...
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After Oxford University and the RMA Sandhurst, Christopher Joll spent six years as an officer in The Life Guard...
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Christopher P Baker earned degrees in geography at University College London and Latin American Studies at Live...
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Awarded a Pembroke College Exhibition to Cambridge, Clive read History and (as the only undergraduate in the Fa...
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Rupert Wallace retired from the Royal Navy in 2014 as a Commodore, after a career which included the Falklands ...
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Daniel is a travel writer, naturalist, photographer and tour lecturer who specialises in the exotic Indian Ocea...
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Daphne is an art historian whose principal field of interest relates to the art and culture of the Italian Rena...
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David Coates first experienced Taiwan in 1972-3 studying Chinese at the Stanford Centre at Taiwan National Univ...
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David has wide experience in introducing audiences to the wonders of chocolate, helping people to get a de...
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David went to Germany in 1968 for three months’ work experience abroad in the wine cellars of H Sichel S&...
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A filmmaker by trade, David has spent the last 25 years crisscrossing the globe to chase the eclipse experience...
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David Mitchell was previously a Curator at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and is now an Honorary Research A...
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David took an MA in Classics from St. Andrews University. He subsequently taught Classics for eleven years in E...
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Alan began his career teaching history of art at Indiana and Princeton Universities. Returning to Britain in 19...
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Dr Angie Smith has a BA in Art History and a PhD in Combined Historical Studies from the Warburg Institute (Lon...
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Dr. Anna Garnett is the Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London, and ha...
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Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, one of the UK&rsqu...
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Candace Weddle is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Anderson University, South Carolina. She holds a PhD...
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Carrie Gibson received her PhD in History from Cambridge in 2011, focussing on the Hispanic Caribbean isla...
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Dr Chris Naunton is an Egyptologist currently working on a freelance basis as a writer, broadcaster and public ...
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Christopher Whitton is a Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge. Originally from Lanca...
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Dr Allum is an archaeologist and anthropologist. Since the 1980’s she has worked in Latin America excavat...
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David Price-Williams has a first degree from the University of Wales in Ancient Near Eastern languages with a s...
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As well as a career as a music lecturer for the University of Liverpool, Dr Fenella Bazin has enthused aud...
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Judith has lived and worked twice in Japan and spends considerable time annually in the Far East on rese...
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Dr Kevin Fewster is a leading international figure in the fields of maritime museums and maritime heritage. He ...
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Dr Peter Caddick–Adams has been Lecturer in Military and Security Studies at the UK Defence Academy since...
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Sandy Primrose is a biologist who has a very varied career. This includes being an academic undertaking researc...
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Dr Shirley Campbell is an anthropologist with considerable understanding of Pacific and Indian Ocean cultures w...
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Dr Sophie Oosterwijk was born in Gouda and studied English at Leiden and Medieval Studies at York before obtain...
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Dr Steve Kershaw is a tutor in Classics for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, an accredite...
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Elena Myasoedova was born and raised in the ancient city of Novgorod in Russia. She was educated in Moscow wher...
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Elena Spiro has worked with Noble Caledonia for many years and is extremely knowledgeable, bringing so much to ...
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Elizabeth Pierce grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota in the US. De-spite her landlocked origins, she first travel...
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Ernest Rea is a celebrated British broadcaster who specialises in the history of religions and the way that fai...
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Gareth is a passionate plantsman and lecturer based in Donegal. He is a graduate of the SRUC and the University...
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Ghislaine Howard is internationally recognised as a painter of powerful and expressive means, whose art charts ...
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Harry Mount studied Classics and Ancient History at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he obtained a First. H...
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Helena Attlee is the author of The Land Where Lemons Grow, The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit,&n...
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Henry Blofeld is an English sports journalist whose rich, plummy tones are known and loved worldwide thanks to ...
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Henry Davis lectured in International & European Studies at the Birkbeck College (University of London) and...
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Hugh Ellwood Ph.L, BA (Hons) Arch. RIBA is based in Lytham St Annes in the North West. He was educated in...
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Ian Ridpath is an award-winning astronomy author and populariser with over 40 books to his name. He is the edit...
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Imogen served for nearly twenty years in the British army, retiring in the rank of Major at the end of 1994. Sh...
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James Parry is a writer and consultant specialising in history, heritage, wildlife and the environment. Born an...
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Janette Merilion is a well known horticultural lecturer and historian with a successful garden design business ...
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Jeremy Paterson studied Classics and Ancient History at Oxford, where he was also President of the University A...
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John Bly is an antiques dealer in a family business founded in 1891. From a background of sailors, horse t...
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John Dew was Ambassador to Cuba and Colombia and has extensive experience in Latin America. After studyin...
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Born in Inverness, John Love graduated in zoology at Aberdeen University. In 1975 he went to live on the Isle o...
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John Robson was born at Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, U.K. in 1949. He has had two lifelong interests &nda...
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Julia Korn, who was born in St Petersburg, Russia, has been Senior Researcher at the National Pushkin Museum in...
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Kate Garnons Williams read Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Bristol and wrote her MA thesis...
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Kathryn Robinson is an anthropologist of Asia and the Pacific, now Professor Emerita in the College of Asia and...
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Dr Katie Campbell received an honours English degree from McGill University in Montreal. After a career i...
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Keith Kirsten is one of South Africa’s best known gardeners and a world-acclaimed horticulturalist....
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Lesley has lived and gardened abroad in such diverse countries as Malaysia, Holland as well as North Carolina a...
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Lloyd Esler is a teacher, historian and natural history enthusiast from Invercargill, the southernmost city in ...
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Louise Schofield, recently appointed Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the American University of Rome, is a...
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Lucia Gahlin is an Egyptologist based in the UK. She is an Honorary Research Associate at University College Lo...
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Professor Ludmilla is a graduate with honours from Rostov State University and received her first doctorate the...
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Lydia Bauman is a Polish born artist and art historian. Educated at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (BA i...
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After studying History at Cambridge University Peter Williams spent more than 30 years in the British Army (Col...
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Major General Stephen Carr-Smith served throughout much of the Cold War in Europe and then with NATO. On leavin...
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Gordon Corrigan spent most of his adult life as an officer of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, serving mainly in the Fa...
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Martin Sixsmith was the BBC’s correspondent in Moscow, Washington, Brussels and Warsaw in the 1980s ...
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Matthew Parker grew up in Barbados, was educated at Oxford, and is the bestselling and critically-acclaimed aut...
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Meri Arichi is a Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS, University of London where she lectures on the history of Japa...
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Michael Hindley was born in Blackburn, UK and educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and London University ...
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Michael is an independent scholar, writer, painter and curator. He is married to the artist Ghislaine Howard wi...
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Michael Jones is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Member of the British Commission for Military H...
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Mike Nelhams first went to Tresco on a Studley Trust Scholarship as a student in 1976. He first trained for thr...
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After a period spent composing music for films and theatre, Misha Donat worked for more than 25 years as a seni...
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Neil Taylor is a leading expert on the former Communist world and travels there frequently as a visiting univer...
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Dunedin-born Neville Peat is the author of more than 30 books covering themes of geography, biography, history ...
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Nicholas Merchant’s career has mirrored his abiding interest in antiques. He has worked for some of the m...
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Nigel Cox is a former British diplomat. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. In 1976, just after the dea...
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Nigel McGilchrist has lived and worked in the Mediterranean – Italy, Turkey and Greece – for nearly...
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Nirvana left her native Croatia during the turbulent 1990s, with a degree in History of Western and Yugoslav ar...
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Olga Stavrakis holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Archaeology from the University of Minnesota (USA). An immigra...
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Olga is an accredited lecturer for the Arts Society (former NADFAS), has PhD in Classics and also has BA in Art...
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Patrick commanded the Desert Rats during the 1991 Gulf War. His huge tank formation led the British and A...
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Paul Atterbury is a writer, lecturer, exhibition curator, social historian, tour guide and broadcaster speciali...
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Paul Green has always been keen on all aspects of natural history, especially plants. He worked part-time as a ...
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Peter is an Australian with a passion for terrestrial wildlife and also for the marine world; he is also a keen...
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With his father in military service, Peter Ward grew up in different places throughout England, Germany and the...
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Philip studied singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music. As a professional opera singer he made hi...
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Pieter Shipster comes from a well-travelled Anglo-Dutch military family and he has had a varied career. After t...
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Brian is the Emeritus Professor of Geology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and currently holds adjunct ...
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Professor Carole Hillenbrand is Professor Emerita of Islamic History at Edinburgh University and is now Profess...
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David Abulafia is Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge, where he is also Papathoma...
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Professor Johnson is the author and co-author of several books and a number of articles on US foreign policy, i...
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Professor Ian Beckett retired as Professor of Military History at the University of Kent in 2015. Born at Whitc...
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James Higham is a professor with 25 years of research and teaching experience at the University of Otago (New Z...
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Malyn Newitt obtained a BA in Modern History at Oxford in 1961 and a PhD London 1967. He taught at the Universi...
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Professor Mark Brandon is a polar oceanographer based in the UK. He has spent his entire career working in pola...
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Martyn Rady is Professor of Central European History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, a par...
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Michael Squire is Professor of Classical Art at King’s College London. After receiving a starred first in...
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Professor Norman Hammond is Archaeology Correspondent of The Times, a Senior Fellow at the McDonald Institute f...
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Professor Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski graduated in History from Cambridge, before obtaining his doctorate fr...
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Professor Robert Hillenbrand FBA has long-standing research interests in the Islamic art of North Africa a...
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Roderick Beaton is a leading authority on the history and culture of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean from ...
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Professor Rosalie David OBE FRSA is currently Emeritus Professor of Egyptology and Co-Director of the...
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Barry Cunliffe studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge where he also gained his doctorate. He taught ...
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Tim Blanning is Professor of Modern European History (Emeritus) at the University of Cambridge and is also a Li...
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After teaching the History of Japanese Art at SOAS, University of London, for 30 years, Timon Screech left the ...
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Professor William Vaughan studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford, and History of Art at the Court...
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Ray Hale is a wildlife lecturer, author, photographer and naturalist who is passionate about reconnecting peopl...
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David Snelson served in the Royal Navy from 1969 to 2006; commanding 2 destroyers and the aircraft carrier HMS ...
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John Lippiett had a 36 year career in the Royal Navy, serving in a large number of ships from aircraft carriers...
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We are delighted to be joined on board by Rear Admiral Roy Clare who has almost three decades’ experience...
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Dick Wilkinson graduated from Cambridge, and after postgraduate study and research at universities in Paris, Lo...
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Tim Stevens was Bishop of Leicester from 1999 to 2015 where he was heavily engaged in interfaith relations and ...
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Rosemary is a former nursery owner and daughter of the late George Hyde, who was a hybridist of azaleas and rho...
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Simon Doughty was commissioned into The Life Guards in 1976, retiring from the Army in 2009 in the rank of colo...
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Simon Field, a former Chartered Accountant, is a Master of Wine who most recently bought French ...
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Sir Nicholas Kenyon has been Managing Director of the Barbican Centre since 2007. He was Controller, BBC R...
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Stephen was for 35 years a British diplomat. He lived and worked in Ethiopia, France, the United States, Portug...
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Sir Tony Brenton is a distinguished British diplomat and commentator on public affairs issues. He served for ov...
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Stuart Laing was Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge from 2008 to 2018, responsible for the Colle...
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Based in the UK, Sue has travelled widely from the poles to the equator on all seven continents. Her main inter...
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The Rt Revd Graham James became Bishop of Norwich in 1999. He entered the House of Lords in 2004. Among his nat...
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Born in Constanta, Romania, Ticu began his career in the travel industry at a young age, guiding short tours in...
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Turtle Bunbury is a bestselling author, historian and podcaster based in Ireland. His 2021 book,...
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Peter Hudson had a 36-year career in the Royal Navy, serving in a large number of ships deployed across the glo...