Books by Ann Schmiesing
“A great deal has been written about the Brothers Grimm. Schmiesing brings us back to the world of post-Napoleonic Europe in which they lived, the quickening sense of a German identity linked to these stories. Wagner is just around the corner and, in a fascinating epilogue, she looks not only at the way that psychologists and psychoanalysts would use the Grimms’ findings, but also the way that the Nazis would use the idea of German identity associate with the soil and the folk.” Read more...
The Best Historical Biographies of 2026
Roy Foster, Historian
Interviews where books by Ann Schmiesing were recommended
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1
Maria Theresa, Empress: The Making of the Austrian Enlightenment
by Richard Bassett -
2
Crick: A Mind in Motion – from DNA to the Brain
by Matthew Cobb -
3
Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found
by Andrew Graham-Dixon -
4
The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI & I
by Clare Jackson -
5
The Brothers Grimm: A Biography
by Ann Schmiesing
The Best Historical Biographies of 2026, recommended by Roy Foster
The Best Historical Biographies of 2026, recommended by Roy Foster
The best biographies combine original research with accessible writing and a strong narrative drive, explains the historian Roy Foster, chair of the judges for the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. Here, he introduces us to the five “extraordinarily accomplished” books on their 2026 shortlist, including a reassessment of Austrian empress Maria Theresa and a portrait of the molecular biologist Francis Crick in the swinging 1960s.
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1
The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism
by Yanni Kotsonis -
2
Abortion: A History
by Mary Fissell -
3
Maria Theresa, Empress: The Making of the Austrian Enlightenment
by Richard Bassett -
4
Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives
by Michael Joseph Gross -
5
House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company
by Eva Dou
Notable Nonfiction Books of Early 2025, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction Books of Early 2025, recommended by Sophie Roell
As March draws to a close, Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, looks at some of the nonfiction books that have come out in the first three months of 2025, from the biography of one of the world’s great female leaders to better ways to measure a country’s economy.
