Adam Sisman with David Parker: The Lives of Others

What can we learn about people — and about ourselves — by spending years immersed in the lives of others? Noted local biographer Adam Sisman has spent much of his career finding out. His subjects have ranged from Wordsworth and Coleridge to John le Carré, James Boswell and the extraordinary con man Robert Peters, as well as the popular historians A.J.P. Taylor, Hugh Trevor-Roper and Asa Briggs.

In conversation with David Parker, Adam looks back over a lifetime of researching and writing biography, sharing what these very different lives have taught him about ambition, character, friendship, deceit and the times in which people lived. He will also reveal what happens behind the scenes when a biographer tries to uncover the truth about another person — and how our understanding of the past can change as new evidence emerges.

A fascinating insight into the art of biography, and the people behind it.