Pat Nixon, ambassador of goodwill
In a new biography of the former First Lady, Heath Hardage Lee attempts to uncover the real woman
Book review - biography
Thursday
A new and compelling study of the life of the iconic rebel Nat Turner
Anthony Kaye seeks to reframe the life of the famous slave rebel in the context of his religious beliefs
Thursday
The wit and wisdom of Margaret Cavendish
As a portrait of the thrilling, rackety milieu of the seventeenth-century literary world, Francesca Peacock’s Pure Wit is truly delightful
Tuesday
Relive Lou Reed’s wild, contradictory life
In Lou Reed: The King of New York , Will Hermes seems unusually well attuned to his subject, while resisting any temptation to soft-pedal
Wednesday
A definitive biography of Liz and Dick, Hollywood’s most controversial and glamorous couple
Roger Lewis answers what it is about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor that still hooks us in
Wednesday
An admirable but flawed new biography of George Eliot
The Marriage Question shows us a woman fragmented
Sunday
Why is George Orwell so difficult to pin down?
The writer is an easy man to admire and sympathize with, but a hard one to like
Lady Caroline Lamb and the frantic bed-hopping between the great houses of England
Antonia Fraser paints a convincing, shocking picture of upper-class mores in the late eighteenth century
Sunday
The king and queen who saved the British monarchy
A well-researched new biography of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Thursday
Who was the real Martin Luther King, Jr.?
King: A Life is the first comprehensive biography of the black civil rights hero to appear in more than thirty years
Monday
Vince McMahon: the modern-day P.T. Barnum who changed America
The new biography Ringmaster unpacks a controversial legend
Thursday
Jimmy Page is a Capricorn – that says it all
Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography by Chris Salewicz reviewed
Thursday
Ménage à quatre with Robert Graves
Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-Bye to All That, 1895–1929 by Jean Moorcroft Wilson reviewed
Thursday
Bruce Lee: weird, gruesome and oh-so-cool
From his early street fights to his friendship with Steve McQueen, from his cha-cha to his one-inch punch, Bruce Lee was made to be Bruce Lee.
Thursday
You didn’t have to be mad to work for Tommy Nutter — but it helped
How an eccentric tailor took over Savile Row in the late 60s.
Thursday
From persecutor to preacher: the journey of St Paul
Saint Paul is unique among those who have changed the course of history — responsible not just for one but two critical historical developments 15 centuries apart. First, he persuaded the early followers of Jesus of Nazareth that gentiles as well as Jews could belong to their nascent church. This enabled its spread throughout the … Read more
Thursday
How a 14th-century Arab thinker influenced Ronald Reagan
At a press conference in October 1981, Ronald Reagan quoted Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) in support of what is known as supply-side economics. Although the 14th- century politician and thinker wrote extensively about economics and was almost unique among medieval Arab writers in so doing, it is quite ‘marvellous’ writes Robert Irwin, the author of … Read more
