Over a million of us visit each year; 30,000 of us live there; 3 percent of it is British sovereign territory. Where? The Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This talk traces the links between Britain and Cyprus from the Bronze Age to the present day, via Richard the Lionheart, Shakespeare’s Othello and Winston Churchill. 

Steve Priestley first visited Cyprus in 1964, aged 8. He lived there from 1972 to 1974 and has visited frequently since, both as a tourist and in an official capacity. In 2005, he authored a major report about the political situation on the island and he was most recently there in February 2026.