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Patrick Leigh Fermor, who died last year at the age of 96, was one of the greatest travel writers of the 20th century - and much more besides. His exploits as an officer with the SOE in the Second World War, during which he kidnapped the German commander of occupied Crete, inspired as much admiration as his books, which include The Traveller's Tree, Mani and A Time of Gifts. He was a man of contrasts: a perfectionist, but never a pedant; an ebullient extrovert who revealed, in A Time to Keep Silence, a profound understanding of monasticism; a deeply private writer who gave readers the illusion they were sharing his mind. Marking the publication of her biography, Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure, Artemis Cooper explores with Fermor's close friend Colin Thubron a life of fruitful contradiction. The conversation is introduced by Rita Gardner, Director of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

The RGS-IBG and RSL are grateful to Art Tours Limited for sponsoring this event.

Artemis Cooper photographed by Eleanor Beevor