THE Chalke Valley History Festival begins today.

Taking place in Ebbesbourne Wake, the seven-day festival will see more than 140 speakers delivering wide-ranging talks, from the time of the ancients to more contemporary subjects.

In addition to speakers, there will be living history entertainment including combat displays and interactive experiences as well as a series of short air displays with historic aircraft across the weekend.

Among the speakers are historians, politicians, philosophers and broadcasters ranging from Niall Ferguson, Melvyn Bragg and Peter Mandelson to Jack Straw, Jonathan Dimbleby and Dan Cruickshank.

The former head of the British Army Field Marshall Lord Bramall will be there as well as former Beirut hostage Terry Waite and Johnny Johnson, the last surviving Dam Buster.

Baiting the Russian Bear is the title of one of the discussions when writers and opinion formers, Peter Frankopan and Edward Lucas, along with Marina Litvinenko, will discuss the fragile relationship between Russia and The West.

The annual Prospect Debate will discuss the motion ‘Trident: Britain’s Nuclear Deterrent Should be Consigned to History’ contested by Professor Lord Hennessy and Philip Dunne, Minister of State for Defence Procurement, against Professor David Edgerton and Kate Hudson, general secretary of CND.

It is the UK’s largest festival dedicated entirely to history.

Among the local authors to feature at this year’s festival are the adventurer Charlie Walker who cycled around the world and Miranda McCormick, the granddaughter of the Wiltshire farmer, author and broadcaster AG Street.

The festival’s first staged play will take place this year.

It tells the story of aspiring journalist Dorothy Lawrence who returns to Salisbury in 1915 having returned from a mysterious assignment to Paris.

The full literary programme of over 140 speakers can be found online at cvhf.org.uk