10:00- Paterson Arran 10:10 Ten at Ten Writers' Retreat, Free: Book in Advance A delicious morning reading from one of our Festival authors to set you up for the day. Check the screen in the Entrance Tent to see who's reading each day. WE ARE THE WAR10:00 Ben Macintyre How the Nazis Were Outfoxed on D-Day RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] D-Day was the turning point of the Second World War and a triumph for a cunning operation aimed at convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the invasion force. Ben Macintyre's Double Cross tells of one of the oddest military units ever assembled featuring a Peruvian playgirl, a Polish pilot and a Spaniard with a diploma in chicken farming. Supported by an anonymous Benefactor.10:15 Samantha Harvey & Tim Lott Sibling Rivalry Unfolds The Guardian Spiegeltent, £10 [£8] Brothers are the glue which bonds Samantha Harvey and Tim Lott's latest books together. In Harvey's All is Song, Leonard, homeless and alone, comes to stay with his brother William after taking care of their dying father. Floods of emotion are duly unleashed. Lott's Under the Same Stars features the Nash boys heading off on a road trip across the States as the world's economy crumbles around them. Free coffee, courtesy of Heritage Portfolio. DEMOCRACY MATTERS10:30 Matthew Flinders & Dan Hind Can We Ever Trust Politicans Again? ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] In The Return of the Public, Dan Hind traces how political elites have historically constructed a deeply ambiguous idea of the public, one designed to serve their own ends and preserve the status quo, as witnessed with today's politicians and financiers. Matthew Flinders' Defending Politics meets our contemporary pessimism about the political process head on and aims to move us towards a more engaged 'politics of optimism.'SCOTLAND'S RICH HISTORY11:00 Stuart McHardy & Gary West Unlocking the Secrets of Scotland's Past Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] Stuart McHardy's The Pagan Symbols of the Picts sets out a cohesive interpretation of the Pictish past, providing a context for his suggestion that there was an underlying series of ideas behind the creation of the symbols. Lecturer and musician Gary West brings us Voicing Scotland: Folk, Culture, Nation in which he wonders whether folk culture can survive and thrive in a digital age. 11:00- Writing Workshop 12:30 The Writer as Entrepreneur Writers' Retreat, £15 [£12] Today's writer can no longer write in a lonely garret and expect to make a living or an impact. Writers now have to be more versatile and proactive than ever. Award-winning writer, playwright and journalist Caroline Dunford looks at the opportunities open to modern writers, encouraging you to discover how you can spread your wings into new areas of writing.In association with the Society of Authors.11:30 Michael Frayn All the Fun of the Farce RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] The Man Booker-shortlisted and Whitbread-winning author of Headlong and Spies joins us to discuss his latest novel, Skios. Michael Frayn is one of Britain's most respected playwrights and he brings his mastery of the stage farce to this new comedy. As the Fred Toppler Foundation prepares for its annual lecture, it turns out there's a case of stolen identity that threatens to get the organiser into hot water.Supported by the Hawthornden Literary Retreat.WE ARE THE WAR12:00 Allan Massie The Legacy of Vichy ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] During the Second World War, France was ruled by a collaborationist government based in the town of Vichy. Leading Scottish journalist and novelist Allan Massie has written several books about it and the shadow it has cast over French public life. Massie will draw from his new novel, Dark Summer in Bordeaux, and a reprint of his classic novel A Question of Loyalties. Chaired by Allan Little.LITERARY LEGENDS12:30 Lucinda Dickens Hawksley The Definitive Guide to Charles Dickens Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, we welcome his great-great-great-granddaughter, Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, to discuss her beautiful illustrated guide to the man and his works. Featuring previously unpublished family photographs and proofs showing Dickens' own editing marks, this is a unique perspective on a much-loved writer.13:00 Nothing but the Poem Poetry of War Writers' Retreat, £10 [£8] Reignite your love of poetry with an in-depth approach to reading with our friends from the Scottish Poetry Library. War and conflict have produced some of the most powerful and emotive poetry. In this discussion, explore further why poetry resonates in such times. No background knowledge is required and poems will be provided. Today's event is led byRobyn Marsack.In association with the Scottish Poetry Library.Like poetry? LOVE...Alan Gillis, Tony Lopez & Fiona Sampson (23 Aug, p46)Etgar Keret, 19:00See page 83 for booking detailsBook now: www.edbookfest.co.uk 0845 373 588823Thur 16 August

SCIENCE MEETS FICTION13:30 Sam Bourne The Thrilling Tale of a Plot to Create a Master Race RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] What did Nazi Germans and left-leaning thinkers such as Bertrand Russell and George Bernard Shaw have in common? One answer is eugenics - selective breeding for the supposed betterment of the human race. In his latest thriller, Sam Bourne (aka Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland) spins a propulsive story about a true-life secret project involving the British and US intelligentsia. Chaired by Allan Little.LITERARY LEGENDS14:00 Alexandra Harris & John Mullan What Made Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf Great? ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] Virginia Woolf wrote admiringly that Jane Austen had written 'without hate, without bitterness, without fear, without preaching.' In this event the ideas and work of these two giants of British fiction are compared and contrasted. Alexandra Harris' previous book Romantic Moderns won the Guardian First Book Award, while John Mullan is a literary critic whose book What Matters in Jane Austen? has just been released.WE ARE THE WAR14:30 Stephen McGinty & Daniel Pick Trying to Fathom the Nazi Mind Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] Nazis continue to have a mesmeric hold over historians. Stephen McGinty's Camp Z recalls the visit of Rudolph Hess to the UK in 1941 to broker a peace deal, but which turned into a psychological battle between a desperate government and an unhinged member of Hitler's inner circle. Daniel Pick's The Pursuit of the Nazi Mind tells the extraordinary story of how psychoanalysis was used in the war against Germany.LITERARY LEGENDS15:00 THE BAILLIE GIFFORD EVENT Claire Tomalin The Complex Character That was Charles Dickens RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] Whitbread Award-winner Claire Tomalin's Charles Dickens: A Life explores a workaholic journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes and, of course, a great novelist. His brilliance concealed a complex character: a republican who disliked America, an advocate of family who took up with a young actress and a generous man who cut off his penniless children.15:00 Anjali Joseph & Nikita Lalwani Writing Without Boundaries Writers' Retreat, £7 [£5] Anjali Joseph joined us last year to discuss her multi-award-winning debut Saraswati Park. She returns with Another Country, a beautifully-observed novel which follows Leela on a journey through love and youth in Paris, London and Bombay. Nikita Lalwani's The Village is a gripping modern morality tale set in India in which a woman is making a documentary about a village which is also an open prison for convicted killers.15:30 Joanna Bourke & Roger Osborne Political and Social Animals Explored ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] In 1872, a woman known only as 'An Earnest Englishwoman' published a letter entitled 'Are women animals?' Exploring the legacy, Joanna Bourke's What it Means to be Human examines the ever shifting line drawn between humans and animals. Roger Osborne's Of the People, By the People is a fascinating and erudite history of the world's democracies and the people who fought to bring an end to political tyranny. Chaired by Ruth Wishart.16:00 Fiona McLaren An Art Lover's Da Vinci Code Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] It's billed as one of the most sensational detective stories in the history of art. Fiona McLaren tells her story of a painting that belonged to the family for years until they began to realise it may be rather special. Could it have been by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, or even by the master himself? McLaren's spellbinding account includes some astonishing insights into the Roman Catholic Church. Chaired by Jackie McGlone.16:30 Lindsey Davis & Conn Iggulden Masters of Historical Fiction RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] The epic Roman novels by Lindsey Davis are rich in historical detail. Her brand new work, Master and God, tells the story of one citizen whose act of bravery will change the face of Rome. Joining her is Conn Iggulden, whose new novel Conqueror tells the thrilling story of the Mongol emperor who once ruled over one fifth of the earth's habitable land: Kublai Khan.ANOTHER AFRICA17:00 Gus Casely-Hayford & Alastair Hazell Into Africa ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] With an accompanying BBC TV series, The Lost Kingdoms of Africa will put Gus Casely-Hayford firmly on the map as he helps us understand a far more diverse, creative and culturally rich continent than the public image might suggest. Alastair Hazell's The Last Slave Market tells the extraordinary story of John Kirk, the Scottish botanist who singlehandedly ended the slave trade in East Africa.17:00 Patrick Ness 'A Hazard to Public Health' RBS Corner Theatre, £7 [£5] The multi-award-winning author Patrick Ness is one of our leading writers for young adults. His Chaos Walking trilogy is en route to the silver screen and his latest novel, A Monster Calls, has been shortlisted for both the Carnegie and the Kate Greenaway Medals. An incredibly versatile writer, moving with ease from fantasy to family drama, Patrick has a lightness of touch that goes deep - his novels are not easily forgotten. Chaired by Keith Gray.17:30- Amnesty International 18:15 Imprisoned Writers Series Aung San Suu Kyi Peppers Theatre, Free: Tickets available from the box office on the day of the event Political opposition leader, Nobel Peace laureate and now MP, Aung San Suu Kyi spent much of the past two decades under house arrest. She has come to symbolise the struggle of Burma's people to be free of widespread and systematic abuses. Our daily series today features extracts from her writings, such as Freedom from Fear. Reading today: Maziar Bahiri, Chibundu Onuzo.Thur 16 August (continued) And the haemorrhoid, like any haemorrhoid, would give the man some arsehole advice. Advice on whom to fire, advice on aiming higher, advice on whether to pick a fight and with whom he should conspire. And it worked.Etgar Keret, Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, 19:00Nikita Lalwani, 15:0024