Jerry Brotton is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London. His books include, The Sale of the Late King’s Goods (2006) which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and the bestselling, A History of the World in Twelve Maps (2012), which was shortlisted for the Hessel Tiltman Prize. He is a regular broadcaster, critic and feature writer and is Associate Director of the Queen Mary/Warwick University project, Global Shakespeare. Jerry’s latest book is This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World (2016). Who knew that Elizabethan England developed a close alliance with the Islamic world, and that Shakespeare used the relationship as raw material for many of his plays, culminating in Othello? Jerry Brotton will talk about this neglected aspect of England’s history, and also ask how it might offer a different perspective on the current problems besetting multicultural England and Europe, and its response to the crises in Syria and Iraq.