2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Man Booker Prize, here at National Life Stories, we thought it would be a good moment to delve into our Oral History collections to see what we could find out about its history.

Dr Emma Greenwood, Audio Project Cataloguer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage, writes: Sir Francis Chichester’s record-breaking circumnavigation of the globe in 1966-1967 is a legendary accomplishment in yachting and sporting history. When he sailed back into Plymouth Sir Francis was greeted by a fleet of small boats, thousands of fans…

This week’s selection comes from Dr Eva del Rey, Curator of Drama and Literature Recordings and Digital Performance. Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (1865-1940) was a British physician, medical missionary and humanitarian, who worked on the Newfoundland and Labrador coast, Canada for over forty years. In 1908, on his way to…

Cheryl Tipp, Curator of Wildlife and Environmental Sounds, writes: In Disney’s The Lion King, the young cub Simba finds himself in the midst of a terrifying wildebeest stampede. Though our little hero survives the ordeal, a stampeding herd of wildebeest is certainly a force to reckon with. Every year during…

This week’s selection comes from Jonathan Summers, Curator of Classical Music Recordings. Leonard Bernstein was born 100 years ago on 25th August 1918. In 1953 the young Bernstein made a series of LPs for the American Decca label. Already with aspirations as a music educator, Bernstein recorded lectures on the…