Books by Adam Shatz
“Fanon is a fascinating character who has come more and more into focus as post-colonial politics and the politics of race have become vital to the way we see our world and how it is constructed. He is also a quite important figure in the history of psychiatry. He was born in Martinique as a French citizen. French colonies are not called precisely colonies, they become departments of the metropole. By fighting for France in the war and by going to study psychiatry in France, Fanon, first of all, seems a figure who would be very much in line with the French theory of assimilation, in which you are a French citizen before any other identity. This is a very problematic concept, as we see among France’s Arab population at the moment.” Read more...
The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize
Roy Foster, Historian
Interviews where books by Adam Shatz were recommended
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1
All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil
by Stephen Alford -
2
Augustus The Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco
by Tim Blanning -
3
The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV
by Helen Castor -
4
Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
by Dan Jones -
5
The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon
by Adam Shatz
The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize, recommended by Roy Foster
The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize, recommended by Roy Foster
A good historical biography should help us redefine and rethink what makes a person historically significant, says Roy Foster, chair of the judging panel of the Elizabeth Longford Prize. He talks us through the brilliant books that made the 2025 shortlist, including the lives of various monarchs who left their mark on European history, a portrait of an early modern spymaster, and a biography of Frantz Fanon, the anti-colonial writer.
