The First Minister will take to the stage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival along with a host of authors from home and abroad for the event's "most international" programme to date.

There are 55 countries represented at the book festival which starts on August 15 and is unveiled today.

Thousands are expected to flock to the annual event.

Philippa Gregory launches her new novel on Henry VIII's last queen, Patrick Ness reveals his much-anticipated new work, while Pat Barker, Arne Dahl, Aleksandar Hemon, Tom Holland, John Banville and Andrew Miller also launch new books.

Crime writer Val McDermid discusses her new crime novel with the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Ms Sturgeon has just appeared on one of America's most popular satirical news programmes, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Elsewhere in the festival Louis de Berni�res, Joanne Harris and Etgar Keret are joined by David Mitchell, Irvine Welsh, Emily Woof, Owen Sheers, Amit Chaudhuri, previous Man Booker Prize winners Ben Okri and Howard Jacobson, Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley and historians Antony Beevor and Ferdinand Mount.

Edinburgh's Ian Rankin has chosen to chat to some of his favourite writers and musicians and his guests include Hollywood A-Lister Alan Cumming, musicians Viv Albertine, Edwyn Collins and Stuart David, co-founder of Belle and Sebastian.

To coincide with the Edinburgh International Festival's new stage production of Lanark, Alasdair Gray discusses the origins of his masterwork, contrasting his ideas with a reading from his newest project and linking both to a classic work of literary criticism which provided his inspiration.

Human Rights is also high on the agenda, and Director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti and journalists Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Bidisha discuss national security, national identity, immigration and extremism.

Organisers say in its most international programme to date, the Book Festival has authors who write in a multitude of languages, many of whom are translated into English for the first time.

Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: "Scotland has always been an outwardlooking nation and this year the Book Festival is more international than ever before. Charlotte Square Gardens will reflect the idea of the Global Village as we welcome authors from across the planet.

"Whether they are from Nigeria or North Korea; Colombia or China, these are writers whose stories shed light not only on the big changes in world power, but on the shifting nature of local cultures. changes that are also taking place in Scotland.

"Some literary megastars in their own countries make the trip to Edinburgh this August including Spain's Jaume Cabr� whose Confessions has sold over one million copies, Germany's Jenny Erpenbeck who has just won the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the multi-award winning Helle Helle from Denmark, and South Korea's Han Kang."

The Edinburgh International Book Festival receives funding from Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council and this year welcomes over 900 participants from 55 different countries to Charlotte Square Gardens and runs from Saturday August 15 to Monday August 31.