BROADCASTER, writer and journalist Jonathan Dimbleby will be in Evesham on Thursday, April 23 to talk about his new book Destiny in the Desert.

Dimbleby himself will be put under the spotlight after the talk at the Arts Centre when the audience will have the chance to ask the journalist questions and he will also be on hand to sign copies of his new book.

Destiny in the Desert is Dimbleby's taut account of North African fighting in the Second World War, culminating in the second battle of El Alamein, is a scintillating piece of writing, charting the nail-biting months that led to the victory at El Alamein in November 1942.

He has fresh things to say about a campaign so much fought over among revisionist historians, who sum up the Second World War as "Russia defeated Germany, the United States defeated Japan, and Britain defeated... Italy".

Britain's war in North Africa began well against the Italian army in Libya, but came close to defeat - and the loss of Egypt and the vital Suez Canal - after the intervention of German General Rommel's Afrika Korps.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill sacked two luckless British commanders before the tide was finally turned by Montgomery at El Alamein.

Churchill got the victory he called "the end of the beginning" - but was it really that simple?

Was Churchill justified in replacing his generals? How did "Monty" succeed where they had failed?

Tickets, costing £14, for Jonathan Dimbleby - Destiny in the Desert are available from Evesham Almonry, Abbey Road WR11 4BG, by calling 01386 446944 and from EveshamArtsCentre.co.uk.

Talk starts at 7.30pm.