Earl Spencer is coming to Ely this week to give a talk on his poignant memoir, A Very Private School. 

Princess Diana's brother will join staff from Topping & Company Booksellers and members of the public at St Mary's Church on Tuesday May 21. 

Published on March 12, the acclaimed historian offers a first-hand account of a culture of cruelty at the school he attended as well as insights into the boarding system. 

Exploring the long-lasting impact of his experiences, Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent a away from home at eight-years-old to attend boarding school, presenting a candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood.

Novelist Louis de Bernières said: "Moving and beautifully written, what Spencer's courageous book reveals will be horribly familiar to the thousands of us who endured the same vile abuse in dozens of schools that were clones of each other.

"Most of us will go to our graves with the wounds unhealed."

Spencer was a reporter on NBC's Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of seven books, including The White Ship, Blenheim: Battle For Europe and Killers of the King. 

Doors open at 7pm on Tuesday May 21 at St Mary's Church, St Mary's Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire. 

Tickets can be booked on the Topping & Company Booksellers website.