Azi Ahmed at Winchester Speakers' Festival

By the age of 12, Azi Ahmed had been fully trained in all the skills her mother thought necessary to become the perfect housewife: knitting, sewing and sitting pretty. Little did she know that a rather different sort of training lay in her future. With no military experience, physically slight and before entering Chelsea Barracks, socially isolated, Azi suddenly found herself in selection training hoping to become part of the British Army's most elite fighting force:- the SAS. She soon realised that the physical challenges were the least of her worries.

Deep-rooted ethnic and gender prejudices abounded and Azi was faced with trying to defend her religion within a regimented and hostile environment, a situation that was not helped by the events of 9/11. While Azi dealt with non-halal ration packs, squaddie drinking culture and the most rigorous tests of mental and physical strength, her parents, completely unaware of her double life, were still trying to find her a suitable boy to marry.

This is the incredible true story of the most violent of culture clashes, of one woman's fight not only to be 'the best of the best', but to remain true to herself in the process.

A Q&A session will follow.

Tickets are available here.