22 March                    Jill McGivering

“Afghanistan .. Fact and Fiction”

November’s talk by John Pilkington included a picture of Iraq quite different from that given in the news. But here investigative journalist Jill McGivering tells what it’s like to be embedded with British troops in Helman province in Afghanistan - brave, first-hand experience of a haunting military offensive against the Taliban. The impact of the conflict on civilians, especially women: the hellish reality made plain in readings from her novel, The Last Kestrel. Jill is a senior BBC broadcaster, widely travelled in covering conflicts, and likely to bring us an unusually gripping and memorable AGM.