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Biographies
- Sir Walter Ralegh
Ralegh (also spelled 'Raleigh') was one of the most colourful
men of his day – a poet, courtier, soldier, mariner and intriguer.
- Rasputin
The wandering peasant who exerted a powerful influence over Tsar Nicholas
II and his tsarina.
- Paul
Raymond
The tangled career and troubled personal life of Britain's
foremost porn baron.
- John Reith
The troubled and strait-laced first director general of the BBC.
- Richard
I Lionheart
English king who spent more time on Crusade than in his own country.
- Richard
II
From his bravery during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, it was all
downhill until he was overthrown by Henry IV.
- Richard
III
Last of the Plantagenet kings, he lost the throne – and his life
– to Henry VII.
- Cliff Richard
A celibate Christian knighted for his charitable work who was once hailed the 'British Elvis'.
- Erwin
Rommel
The military genius who was more political than his fans would like to
believe.
- Franklin Roosevelt
The US president from his wealthy beginnings to his death on the brink
of peace.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
President who guided the US through the Depression and World War II.
- Joseph
Rotblat
The story of one of the boffins mobilised in the US campaign to build
the atom bomb – and his endeavours to be ethical.
- Peter
Paul Rubens
One of the most influential painters of Baroque Europe, whose visual vocabulary
is sometimes difficult to appreciate.
- Marquis
de Sade
A free-thinking radical or depraved sex-mad monster?
- Mary
Seacole
The extraordinary life of the Caribbean-born nurse Mary Seacole,
who became famous for her pioneering work in caring for British troops
during the Crimean War. Why was she so swiftly forgotten after her death?
- Jane
Seymour
Henry VIII's third wife and mother of his only legitimate son.
- Ernest
Shackleton
Background information on Shackleton and his expedition, and on his mentor
Captain Scott.
- Wallis
Simpson
A strong-willed woman, hungry for independence but caught up in a situation
she could not control.
- Wallis Simpson
The twice-divorced duchess of Windsor, who never became a royal highness.
- Queen Sophia of Greece
Queen Victoria's eldest daughter who spent most of her reign in exile.
- Spartacus
The slave who threatened the power of Rome in the 1st century BC.
- The Spencers
A two-part biography of Diana Spencer and her brother Charles, Earl Spencer.
- Diana Spencer
The fairytale princess whose life ended in tragedy.
- Joseph Stalin
The Soviet leader from his birth in Georgia to the end of his tyranny
in 1953.
- Josef Stalin
Georgian-born dictator of the Soviet Union, probably the most brutal dictator
of modern times.
- Stalin
A selection of the best websites and books about probably the worst tyrant
of the 20th century.
- William
Stead
Roy Hattersley writes about the editor whose stories of London's sexual
underworld forced a change in the law.
- King
Stephen
The 12th-century warrior who, seizing the throne from a woman, cause 14
years of civil war.
- Robert Stephenson
The great 19th-century engineers Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Robert Stephenson
were bitter commercial rivals but also lifelong friends.
- Achmad Sukarno
Indonesian president whose authoritarian manner finally led to his downfall
in 1967.
- Edward
Teller
A major architect of the US nuclear arsenal and an unrelenting champion
of American military dominance.
- Margaret Thatcher
Britain’s first woman prime minister.
- Titian
The painter who did more than any other to change the way the world was
translated into paint on canvas.
- Tito
Communist president who fought Hitler and Stalin to bring Yugoslavia into
the non-aligned fold.
- Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
A quasi-biography of the artist, given as a series of interesting facts.
- Leon Trotsky
A crucial figure in the Russian Revolution who was murdered in Mexico
City.
- Tutankhamun
The Egyptian pharaoh, including information on how he may have died.
- Mao
Tse Tung
Mao’s role as a leading figure in China and the extent
to which his work benefited or damaged the country.
- Vincent
van Gogh
The truth behind iconic works such as Sunflowers, his
enduring relationship with his brother Theo and his suicide.
- Diego
Velázquez
The first great Spanish painter and, for many major artists, the most
inspiring and relevant 'old master' of them all.
- Vespasian
An examination of the Roman emperor's career.
- Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain
Queen Victoria's granddaughter who passed haemophilia to two of her sons.
- Lech Walesa
Trade union leader who led the revolt against Communism in Poland and
later became president.
- Perkin Warbeck
The mysterious young man who claimed to be one of the ‘princes
in the Tower’ and became a thorn in Henry VII’s side.
- Duke of Wellington
The 'Iron Duke' – victor of Waterloo and prime minister.
- H
G Wells
Wells forecast 20th-century society so accurately that he was dubbed 'the
man who invented tomorrow'.
- Wilhelm II
Physical damage at birth and psychological damage during childhood resulted in an arrogant and vain Kaiser.
- Wilhelm
II
Queen Victoria’s grandson who was Germany’s last Kaiser.
- William, duke of Gloucester
Queen Anne’s only surviving child, whose early death led to the
Hanoverian dynasty.
- Prince William the Atheling
Royal heir whose death by drowning in 1120 led to 14 years of civil war.
- William
I the Conqueror
England’s first Norman king who conquered the country at Hastings
in 1066.
- William
II Rufus
Son of the Conqueror who built Westminster Hall and seized forests.
- Woodrow Wilson
US president who failed to secure a fair post-war settlement after World
War I.
- Thomas
Wolsey
Archbishop of Canterbury who fell when he could not procure an annulment
for Henry VIII.
- Elizabeth
Woodville
Wife of Edward IV, whose family was detested by the English nobility.
- Arthur
Zimmermann
German whose brief career as foreign secretary had a profound effect on
World War I.
