Jonathan Freedland in conversation with Professor Ivor Gaber.

Amid warning signs that even the world’s most powerful democracy is not immune to the risks of a slide into authoritarianism, Jonathan Freedland and Ivor Gaber discuss an enduring, yet newly urgent question: why do some people stand up to tyranny, when most do not? Why do some risk their own lives to take a stand that can only bring ruin – and worse?

These are questions that Jonathan wrestles within his latest book, The Traitors Circle, which tells the astonishing true story of anti-Nazi rebels who defied Adolf Hitler, only to be betrayed from within – a story with alarming resonance for our own time. He will discuss the book in relation to today’s global politics with Professor Gaber followed by audience questions and book signing.

JONATHAN FREEDLAND is a columnist for the Guardian and presents BBC Radio 4’s The Long View. His other books include The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Save the World and several thrillers under the pseudonym Sam Bourne.

IVOR GABER is Emeritus Professor of Political Journalism at the University of Sussex. He is an expert on the interaction between politics and journalism and was a political correspondent at Westminster for Channel Four News.

Tickets are £16 and available from www.shorehamwordfest.com