The King Must Die

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He is asked about Mr Scott's response to concerns, which was: "How do you know, you weren't there?"

Mary Renault tells the story of Theseus, his adventures on mainland Greece in search of his true identity, and his journey to the heart of the Labyrinth of Knossos, where he must face the Minotaur. Renault is considered by many to be the finest historical novelist of the 20th Century. In this story, she brilliantly evokes a distant age, and explores the eternal conflict between male and female, through the violent career of a warrior king who is enmeshed in dark forces beyond his control. The actress is asked about the politics of this matter, and the refusal of politicians to commit to attending such marches. We weren't there, however, fortunately, all of the people around Napoleon were there, and Napoleon also wrote very extensive memoirs and they all wrote down what actually happened.Octavia is joined by classicist Bettany Hughes, who has written the introduction for the latest edition of The King Must Die, writer Kamila Shamsie, whose retelling of Antigone, the novel Home Fire, won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018, and the academic and novelist Okechukwu Nzelu to discuss the qualities and enduring appeal of her writing.

Trevor Philips is now joined by historian Andrew Roberts, who is on the show to discuss the historical accuracy of Ridley Scott's latest film, Napoleon. These are meant to be entertainment, they are not documentaries," he adds. "You're not expected to have everything absolutely accurate." However, he points out that Mr Scott did name his film Napoleon: "So I think it's OK for us to say what is accurate." This is a march showing solidarity with the community in this country, this great country, that is multi-cultural and multi-racial and that has always stood for tolerance.

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Asked how much of the film is accurate, Mr Roberts says: "Of the two hours and 38 minutes, I would say 38 minutes." Mr Roberts says this would mean all historians would have to remain engrossed in very recent history. So there is something really deeply rooted in the psyche of this country, somewhere, that is allowing this antisemitism."