The knight and the umbrella

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Paul Johnson

Darwin's revolutionary career is the perfect vehicle for historian Paul Johnson. Marked by the insightful observation, spectacular wit, and highly readable prose for which Johnson is so well regarded, Darwin brings the gentleman-scientist and his times brilliantly into focus. From Darwin's birth into great fortune to his voyage aboard the Beagle, to the long-delayed publication of his masterpiece, Johnson delves into what made this Victorian gentleman into a visionary scientist and into the tragic flaws that later led Darwin to support the burgeoning eugenics movement.

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Nicholas Murray

Matthew Arnold is a pivotal figure in the literature of the nineteenth century; his poems are still widely read and his social criticism continues to influence contemporary scholars. This comprehensive biography, the first in many years, brings the surprisingly modern figure of Arnold back to life, firmly establishing him as one of the most eminent Victorian writers. Through years of research and a number of previously untouched sources, Nicholas Murray presents a fully rounded biography of one of literature's greatest figures. Here, readers will see Matthew Arnold as few have witnessed him before: as a masterful writer, certainly, but also as a devoted family man and a powerful critic of Victorian materialism. With sixteen pages of rare black and white photographs, A Life of Matthew Arnold is a fascinating look at one of England's most intriguing and influential poets.

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Edward Gregg

The reign of Queen Anne was a period of significant progress for the country, but the Queen has received little credit for these achievements. This biography seeks to shatter the image of a weak and ineffective monarch.

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Halik Kochanski

"No Victorian was a greater hero for a longer period than Sir Garnet Wolseley. The leading British general of the second half of the nineteenth century, he personally took part in or significantly influenced almost every major campaign between the Crimea and the Boer War. To Disraeli he was 'Our Only General', while to many soldiers and to the public at large he epitomised the virtues they most admired. The phrase 'All Sir Garnet' was a guarantee that everything was under control." "Seen from another angle, Wolseley's career reflects a number of weaknesses. To control a global empire, ruled by a tiny number of officials, Britain had a powerful navy but only a small army. Its ability to deploy a force of limited size throughout the world, almost always against untrained and underequipped native armies, gave the illusion that Britain was as formidable by land as it was by sea. This illusion was necessary to British self-esteem and to securing support at home for the ever-increasing spread of the empire. Such complacency had been shaken by the disasters of the Crimea War at the beginning of Wolseley's career and was shattered by the heavy going made of the Boer War at its end, when British troops had to fight other Europeans." "Halik Kochanski follows Wolseley's rise from his roots (like Wellington's) in Ireland to his becoming a field-marshal and a viscount."--BOOK JACKET.