Wednesday, 10 February 2027, 18:00. Holborn, Barnard’s Inn Hall. Free for everyone. Limited reserved tickets available for RSL Members and Fellows.
In the 21st century, we no longer see history as the ‘great deeds of great men’ but seek to understand the stories of the marginalised or ‘silent majority’. Yet how do we recover and tell these stories when the archival material is so limited?
Historian and award-winning author Hallie Rubenhold discusses how to restore the stories of ordinary people by using a variety of sources in her work, e.g. censuses, records of workhouses, the army, charities and parishes, contemporary newspapers and art.
Speakers
Hallie Rubenhold is a historian, author, and historical consultant for TV and film. Her works of nonfiction include The Covent Garden Ladies, which became the television series, Harlots, Lady Worsley’s Whim, which became the BBC’s Scandalous Lady W and Story of a Murder (published 2025). Her 2019 book, The Five; The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction. She has also written two historical novels and is a Public Humanities Fellow at the School of Advanced Study. A frequent broadcaster and lecturer, Rubenhold advocates for ethical history, feminist scholarship, and public engagement, and continues to shape contemporary historical debate.
The Royal Society of Literature Series
This series brings together leading writers, scholars and artists to explore how literature shapes the ways we understand history, identity and storytelling. Hosted in partnership with Gresham College, the series examines Black performance and Shakespeare, the recovery of overlooked lives and forgotten histories, and the creative possibilities of literary adaptation. Together, these lectures reveal how writers revisit the past, challenge inherited narratives and create new ways of seeing the world through literature.
Presented in partnership with Gresham College.
