Historical Figures
Last updated: November 19, 2024
We have a wide range of recommendations of books about key historical figures, up to and including a few who are still alive. These are people who changed history or at least political history. We also have special sections dedicated to the following:
For well-known philosophers, please browse our 'great philosophers' section.
For well-known novelists and writers, please browse our 'literary figures' section.
Or just browse the array of historical figures we've dedicated interviews to below:
The best books on Hitler, recommended by Michael Burleigh
Hitler has a reputation as the incarnation of evil. But, as British historian Michael Burleigh points out in selecting the best books on the German dictator, Hitler was a bizarre and strangely empty character who never did a proper day’s work in his life, as well as a raving fantasist on to whom Germans were able to project their longings.
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1
Alexander the Great: The Anabasis and the Indica
by Arrian -
2
The History of Alexander
by Quintus Curtius Rufus -
3
The First European: A History of Alexander in the Age of Empire
by Pierre Briant -
4
The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
by Amélie Kuhrt -
5
Fire from Heaven
by Mary Renault
The best books on Alexander the Great, recommended by Hugh Bowden
The best books on Alexander the Great, recommended by Hugh Bowden
Alexander the Great never lost a battle and established an empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to the Indian subcontinent. From the earliest times, historians have argued about the nature of his achievements and what his failings were, both as a man and as a political leader. Here, Hugh Bowden, professor of ancient history at King’s College London, chooses five books to help you understand the controversies, the man behind the legends, and why the legends have taken the forms they have.
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1
Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington
by Ted Widmer -
2
Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words
by Douglas L Wilson -
3
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America
by Garry Wills -
4
Emancipating Lincoln: The Proclamation in Text, Context, and Memory
by Harold Holzer -
5
They Knew Lincoln
by John E Washington
The best books on Abraham Lincoln, recommended by Ted Widmer
The best books on Abraham Lincoln, recommended by Ted Widmer
He came from humble beginnings and never went to high school. Going into the presidency, he had limited political experience and lacked business, legislative and military achievements. The one thing he did not lack was a moral compass, says historian and author Ted Widmer. He picks the best books on the ups and downs and Shakespearean-style plot twists that were the life of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.
The best books on Henri IV of France, recommended by Vincent Pitts
At a time of bitter division, Henri IV succeeded to the French throne and managed to bring the country together after decades of civil war. He converted to Catholicism but brought in toleration for Protestants with the Edict of Nantes. In 1610 he was assassinated by a religious fanatic with a carving knife. Historian Vincent Pitts, author of a great introduction to Henri IV, talks us through the life and times of one of France’s most impressive monarchs.
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1
Suleymanname: The Illustrated History of Suleyman the Magnificent
by Esin Atil (editor) -
2
The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire
by Gülru Necipoglu -
3
Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the Ottoman Empire: The Historian Mustafa Ali
by Cornell Fleischer -
4
Empress of the East: How a Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire
by Leslie Peirce -
5
Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe
by John Julius Norwich
The best books on Sultan Süleyman, recommended by Kaya Şahin
The best books on Sultan Süleyman, recommended by Kaya Şahin
The Ottoman ruler Süleyman was one of the most powerful men in early modern Europe and highly adept at building his reputation for posterity. In European languages, he is still often graced with the epithet ‘the Magnificent.’ The reality was much more mixed, as a new biography of Süleyman shows. Historian Kaya Åžahin talks us through books to better understand Sultan Süleyman and the world he lived in.
The best books on Sigmund Freud, recommended by Lisa Appignanesi
Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Moravia in the Austro-Hungarian empire, Sigmund Freud spent most of his life in Vienna, until fleeing to London just before his death in 1939. Using his classical education to illustrate his points, he introduced the idea that we have an ‘unconscious’ that plays an important role in our actions. For his sessions when patients talked freely to him about their thoughts in a one-on-one setting, he coined the term ‘psychoanalysis.’ Freud expert Lisa Appignanesi talks us through books that shed light on his life as well as his work.
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1
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands
by Mary Seacole -
2
Victorian Lady Travellers
by Dorothy Middleton -
3
Florence Nightingale: The Woman and Her Legend
by Mark Bostridge -
4
Mrs Duberly's War: Journal and Letters from the Crimea, 1854-6
by Fanny Duberly, edited by Christine Kelly -
5
An American Diary
by Barbara Bodichon
The best books on Mary Seacole, recommended by Jane Robinson
The best books on Mary Seacole, recommended by Jane Robinson
Mary Seacole looked after and provided support to British troops during the Crimean War (1853-1856), setting up a hotel for sick and recovering soldiers close to the fighting near Balaclava. In her day, she was as celebrated as Florence Nightingale, but it was not until the rediscovery and publication of her diary in the 1980s that she came to be widely known as a Victorian heroine in modern times. In 2016, a memorial statue of her was unveiled in London, the first in the UK in honour of a named Black woman. Here her biographer, Jane Robinson, tells us more about the remarkable life of Mary Seacole and the world she lived in.
The best books on Saint Teresa of Avila, recommended by Rowan Williams
St Teresa of Avila was one of the towering figures of the Counter-Reformation, both as a theologian and as a reformer of the religious life. Here, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, discusses her insights into spiritual growth and prayer, the impact her Jewish roots had on her life and career, and why Bernini’s statue of her in ecstasy is unhelpful.
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1
Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great
by Isabel de Madariaga -
2
Catherine the Great
by Simon Dixon -
3
Catherine the Great and Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair
by Simon Sebag Montefiore -
4
Selected Letters of Catherine the Great
by Catherine the Great -
5
Working the Rough Stone: Freemasonry and Society in 18th Century Russia
by Douglas Smith
The best books on Catherine the Great, recommended by Andrei Zorin
The best books on Catherine the Great, recommended by Andrei Zorin
She was born in 1729 as Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, a German princess, but by 1762 had become Empress of All Russia and went on to rule for 34 years as Catherine II. She regarded herself as an enlightened despot who embraced the ideas of the Enlightenment and consorted with the French philosophes. Russian historian Andrei Zorin introduces the remarkably industrious and able politician who is remembered as Catherine the Great.
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1
Reflections on the Revolution in France
by Edmund Burke -
2
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful
by Edmund Burke -
3
A Vindication of the Rights of Men and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
by Mary Wollstonecraft, edited by Sylvana Tomaselli -
4
Letters written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
by Mary Wollstonecraft -
5
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
by Adam Smith
The Best Mary Wollstonecraft Books, recommended by Sylvana Tomaselli
The Best Mary Wollstonecraft Books, recommended by Sylvana Tomaselli
Mary Wollstonecraft lived by her pen and wrote trenchant critiques of the role of women and marriage in late 18th century British society. She died aged 38, a few days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Shelley. She is often remembered for writing the Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but it was not in fact her best book, says Cambridge intellectual historian Sylvana Tomaselli. Here, she recommends books to read to get a good understanding of the extraordinary Mary Wollstonecraft, and the writers she was both influenced by and reacting against.