Gimson's Heroes
'A witty, unforgettable celebration of the courage, genius and defiance that changed the course of history' Jacob Rees-Mogg
'Gimson makes excellent cases for all his choices. His "cardinal point" about heroes, "seen from Homer to Hollywood, is that they are enjoyable". That is so right: no one who is immensely worthy but boring can be a hero' Charles Moore
'This is a lovely book to dip in and out of, every visit an education' John Rentoul
A brilliant compendium of Britain's most renowned heroes from Boudicca to Mandela, illustrated by Martin Rowson.
Heroes have flaws, but their stories stir the soul. In Gimson's Heroes, bestselling author Andrew Gimson traces the lives of fifty astonishing individuals who had the courage to defy conventional wisdom.
From Horatio Nelson disobeying orders to Lord Byron scandalising polite society; Grace Darling rowing through a deadly storm to Florence Nightingale teaching the British how to nurse - these icons are no mere monuments of history, but living, breathing people of daring and defiance. Here are stories of resolve and sacrifice: Wallace Hartley plays on as the Titanic goes down, Noor Inayat Khan refuses to flee from occupied France, Stan Hollis storms an enemy pillbox and Nelson Mandela brings down the white regime in South Africa.
A hero, Gimson concludes, is someone with the courage, originality and genius to see what must be done - and to dare to do it, no matter the cost. Complemented by Martin Rowson's uniquely charming illustrations, Gimson's Heroes is a witty, fascinating and lively celebration of the extraordinary legacies of those who went further than most would ever dream.
The fifty Heroes included in the book are:
Boudicca c.25-60/61 AD
Alfred the Great 848-899
King Harold c.1022-1066
Robert the Bruce 1274-1329
Julian of Norwich 1342-1416
Owain Glyndŵr c.1359 - c.1415
Bess of Hardwick c.1522 or 1527-1608
Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603
Sir Francis Drake 1540-1596
Sir Walter Raleigh 1552-1618
Sir Philip Sidney 1554-1586
William Shakespeare 1564-1616
George Herbert 1593-1633
Gerrard Winstanley 1609-1676
Prince Rupert of the Rhine 1619-1682
Robert Boyle 1627-1691
Thomas Coram 1668-1751
Samuel Johnson 1709-1784
James Wolfe 1727-1759
Edmund Burke 1729-1797
James Boswell 1740-1795
Thomas Telford 1757-1834
Horatio Nelson 1758-1805
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797
Thomas Clarkson 1760-1846
Jane Austen 1775-1817
Elizabeth Fry 1780-1845
George Stephenson 1781-1848
Lord Byron 1788-1824
Lord Shaftesbury 1801-1885
Benjamin Disraeli 1804-1881
Isambard Kingdom Brunel 1806-1859
Charles Dickens 1812-1870
David Livingstone 1813-1873
Grace Darling 1815-1842
Prince Albert 1819-1861
Florence Nightingale 1820-1910
Octavia Hill 1838-1912
Fred Burnaby 1842-1885
Ernest Shackleton 1874-1922
Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965
Wallace Hartley 1878-1912
Ernest Bevin 1881-1951
The Unknown Warrior died c. 1914
John Betjeman 1906-1984
Stan Hollis 1912-1972
Michael Wharton 1913-2006
Noor Inayat Khan 1914-1944
Prince Alexander Obolensky 1916-1940
Nelson Mandela 1918-2013
Praise for the three previous Gimson books:
Gimson's Kings & Queens: Brief Lives of the Monarchs since 1066
'The most entertaining and instructive book on the English monarchy you will ever read' Daily Telegraph
Gimson's Prime Ministers: Brief Lives from Walpole to Johnson
'The best general book on British politics I've ever come across. Learned, witty and wise, and splendidly illustrated by Martin Rowson' Tibor Fischer, Guardian
Gimson's Presidents: Brief Lives from Washington to Trump
'This is history at its liveliest and most enjoyable. Most presidential biographies are abominably long-winded and reverential. With miniaturist wit and precision, Gimson manages to compress all the salient facts about each president into five or six pages, while offering beautifully crafted insights into their characters and temperaments ...There is something fascinating or funny on every page' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday