An Evening with Clare Jackson - Hampstead, London

We are delighted to be hosting 2022 Wolfson History Prize winner Clare Jackson for her wonderful new book, The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI & I. Praised as a masterpiece 'in research, analysis and imagination' by The Times, The Mirror of Great Britain tells the story of one of Britain's most influential and unusual monarchs with great flair and insight.

James VI & I, who died 400 years ago, created the British monarchy itself by joining the English and Scottish thrones. A major intellectual, James's preoccupations ranged from witchcraft and theological controversy to hunting, diplomacy, poetry and sartorial fashion. The 'Mirror of Great Britain' was a spectacular jewel that gave symbolic endorsement to James's vision of British union, but mirrors themselves - with their limitless capacity to magnify, illuminate and distort - supplied James with one of his favourite literary metaphors.