Great Britons

Great Britons presents the biographical stories of fifty key figures from Britain’s history in a large-format, attractive hardback volume with lively, colourful illustrations. Subtitled 50 Amazing People Who Have Called Britain Home, the collection emphasises the importance of the history of immigration, integration and innovation that has shaped Britain. Each double page spread celebrates the story and achievements of a different figure from British history and the range is diverse, including such key and varied figures as Boudicca, David Attenborough, Olaudah Equiano, Noor Inayat Khan, Tim Berners Lee, Owain Glyndwr, Alan Turing, Lemn Sissay, Stormzy, Emmeline Pankhurst to name a few. The book moves from early Britons through leaders, writers, inventors, activists, athletes, rappers, and campaigners. Children’s authors also make their mark with pages on Beatrix Potter, Roald Dahl, Judith Kerr and Malorie Blackman.

The text is written in an engaging, accessible style full of fascinating facts and quirky details and the illustrations complement the text and enhance the double page spreads. The life stories are presented in alphabetical order by subject surname rather than chronologically and focus on character and achievements. There is a useful illustrated timeline at the end of the book to help place subjects in historical context. The subjects have been carefully chosen to emphasise diversity and the contribution of those who moved to Britain and made it home as well as those born in the country. A thoughtful introduction is useful in explaining that tough choices in selection were necessary, and in giving context to complex issues such as the history of Empire and the importance of acknowledging past faults and harmful behaviour and views.

This book will be an excellent resource for classrooms, libraries and home collections, a volume to study, dip into and revisit.