Philippe Sands Delivers New Chapter to East West Street at the Book Festival

When Philippe Sands completed East West Street last year, which subsequently won the Baillie Gifford Prize, he didn’t anticipate the extraordinary public reaction that this book would generate, nor could he have imagined the subsequent political events that would unfold.

At the Book Festival this evening, Sands delivered a new chapter to East West Street, commissioned by the Book Festival and Baillie Gifford, which draws on the themes of his bestselling memoir.  His essay explores connections between identity and the potential unravelling of the 1945 post-war settlement, that included the emergence of ‘genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ as part of a new legal order.

Book Festival Director, Nick Barley said “Powerful and unflinching, this explosive essay casts an intellectual hand grenade into the debate around Britain as it negotiates its departure from the European Union.”

The transcript of Philippe Sands’ essay can be found here.