Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes's latest work is called Arthur & George

In a Hardtalk Extra programme broadcast on Friday 22nd September, Gavin Esler spoke to one of Britain's most original and compelling novelists, Julian Barnes.

A miscarriage of justice revealed, institutional racism exposed and a government burying bad news on a quiet day.

It sounds like a modern-day scandal, but it took place in late Victorian England.

It is the latest inspiration for the author Julian Barnes, who first made his name with the book Flaubert's Parrot.

He tells Gavin Esler why he was compelled to write about the obscure case of George Edalji, a Birmingham solicitor persecuted for the colour of his skin, whose cause was taken up by none other than Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

What does it say about modern British attitudes that this remains the great British race scandal that never was?

HARDtalk Extra can be seen on BBC World at 0330 GMT, 0830 GMT, 1430 GMT, 1830 GMT, 2330 GMT.

It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 04:30 and 23:30.