John Simpson in Bath: Assad Was Meek, Mandela the Real Deal

John Simpson brings The Leaders & Lunatics Tour to the Forum in Bath on Thursday 1 October at 7.30pm. Ahead of the show we sent him four questions in writing, through the Forum. He answered all four, and the last answer is about us: “Bath is the most beautiful city in the United Kingdom.”

The show is about the world leaders he has interviewed and reported on, the tyrants and the ones the tour copy sets against them. His answers below are in his own words, as the Forum sent them to us on 29 September.

Who was most different in person from their public image?

Simpson names Bashar al-Assad, the former president of Syria:

“His rule was marked by a terrible repression of his people as Syrian president: his regime used sarin nerve agent among other chemical against the civilians of Syria during the civil war. You’d think he would come across as a really tough guy, until you spent time with him and sat down with him. I found him to be rather sheepish and smooth. He was meek too during his interviews with me, in stark contrast to his ruthlessness as leader of Syria.”

Which interview does he still think about most?

Nelson Mandela, “because he was exactly what you’d expect him to be, in direct opposition to a man like Bashar al-Assad”:

“With Nelson Mandela there was just no pretence, no airs, no graces. He was aware that he was seen as a statesman, but he would be equally as down to earth and personable to, say the late Queen (Queen Elizabeth II), as he was to the street sweepers outside Buckingham Palace. You always knew exactly where you stood with him: if he didn’t like someone he’d have real difficulties hiding it.

“I had the impression that spending 27 years in prison put him in a kind of hurry not to waste his time, even though he was such a thoughtful, calm, deliberate gentleman. Mandela was the real deal.”

What do audiences ask him after the show?

“People mostly want to know who the most impressive individual was that I’d ever met, and who the most evil, and why? They’re also interested in what my most dangerous times were in my pursuit of the leaders and lunatics over the many decades, and what it is that made me stick with the dangers of the job for so long.”

Those questions have a place in the evening itself: the second half of the show is given over to questions from the audience, according to the tour copy the Forum sent us.

Does he have any connection to Bath or the Forum?

“Sadly no personal connection to Bath or the Forum, other than a life-long passion for history and in particular for the Romans. I’m a Suffolk and London lad but I have paid many visits to the city of Bath and the Forum over the many years. Bath is the most beautiful city in the United Kingdom.”

Going to the show

The Forum’s listing gives doors and bars at 6.30pm, the show at 7.30pm, and a finish at about 9.20pm. Tickets and availability are on the Forum’s John Simpson page. The Forum is on St James’s Parade, BA1 1UG.

The tour copy names Putin, Assad, Saddam, Gaddafi and Trump among the figures he will cover, alongside Gorbachev, Mandela, Havel and Zelensky. More on the show, and on six of the Forum’s other autumn nights, from Cabaret Voltaire to Phil Wang, is in our Forum autumn shows round-up. For everything else on in the city, see What’s On in Bath this month.