Sarah Helm

 

 

Sarah Helm joined us for an evening of hard-hitting discussion on issues including nationalism, populism and Brexit. Talking about the independence of the press and the problems of fake news, Sarah stated “proper journalism is dying, it’s practically dead”.

Sarah discussed her book A Life in Secrets – a historical account of the little-know figure Vera Atkins, who trained members of the Special Operations Executive in World War Two. Sarah explained she was drawn to Vera, a woman in the world of espionage, precisely because so little was known about her.

She also touched on her acclaimed book If This Is A Woman: Inside Ravensbruck: Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women. When asked how she manages to distance herself from the horrors she writes about, Sarah said that her background as a journalist drives her to tell these hidden stories, and that it is the wonderful people she meets along the way who keep her going.