A World on Fire

As America descended into Civil War, British loyalties were torn between support for the North-and its antislavery stance-and the South, which portrayed itself abroad as a small nation bravely fighting for independence and upon which the mills of England were dependent for raw cotton. More than 50,000 Britons volunteered for the Confederacy as soldiers, sailors, doctors, nurses, guerrillas, and spies. Hundreds more made their mark as observers, reporters, diplomats and - vitally for the South - blockade runners. This conflict also afflicted New York City, which was similarly heavily divided on the topic and economically dependent upon the South. It is a pertinent topic today as we watch civil unrest spread through much of the world.

Speaking on her new bestselling book A World on Fire, author and historian Amanda Foreman will provide fresh accounts of Civil War battles and, more importantly, she will discuss how the war spread to Britain and was fought just as continuously there as it was in America. In the drawing rooms of London and the offices of Washington, on muddy fields and aboard packed ships, the decisions made, the beliefs held and contested, and the personal triumphs and sacrifices that ultimately led to the reunification of America will be examined by Foreman.

Amanda Foreman is the author of the international bestseller Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1999), which won the Whitbread Prize for Best Biography. The book inspired a documentary, a radio play starring Dame Judi Dench, and a film, The Duchess, released in 2008, starring Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes. Foreman was born in London, brought up in Los Angeles, and educated in both America and England. She received her doctorate in 18th-Century British History from Oxford University in 1998. She is currently a research fellow at Queen Mary, University of London.