Published to accompany a Channel 4 series, Starkey turns the paradox into a person. This new approach to the enigma of Elizabeth's character presents a retelling of her reign, her love for Robert Dudley, the tragi-comedy of her suitors, her epic struggles with Mary and Philip II and the final debacle of her relationship with Robert Devereux.

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette arrived in Paris around 1900 as the provincial child bride of a notorious rake and brilliant literary impressario, Willy, who signed her novels, the Claudines , as his own. When this tumultuous marriage ended, Colette went off with a high-born woman lover and embarked on a flamboyant stage career. This is her story.

A biographical novel of Michelangelo. Michelangelo Buonarotti lived in the time of the turbulent Renaissance, the years of poisoning princes, warring popes, the powerful Medici family, and the fanatic monk Savonarola. Working with a God-driven fury he created David , painted the Sistine ceiling, and was the architect of the dome of St Peter's.

Lance Armstrong won the 1999 Tour de France in spectacular style, taking four stages and both a mountain and a time trial. His story is even more remarkable because he was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer in October 1996.

William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Hobbes were three great Englishmen. This work includes the biographies of these and other great Englishmen.

Helen Keller's account of her triumph over deafness and blindness.

The first volume of the classic adventures and misadventures involving the young vet, James Herriot, in the Yorkshire Dales from 1937 onwards.

Offers a biography of Shakespeare, this book reads like the work of a contemporary meeting Shakespeare. It is a depiction of the world Shakespeare inhabited.

A biography of Adolf Hitler that begins with European successes in the aftermath of the Rhineland occupation and ending nine years later with the suicide in the Berlin bunker. It addresses the questions about the nature of Nazi radicalism, about the Holocaust and about the poisoned European world that allowed Hitler to operate so effectively.

Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, celebrated Italian goldsmith (1500-1571), in which Cellini tells the story of his life and art and also depicts the manners and morals of both the rulers and their subjects in 16th Century Italy. This new edition includes new notes on the text and a chronology.

An autobiography of Gertrude Stein and a roll-call of the painters and writers she met between 1903 and 1932. It is a definitive account by her in Paris.

Drawing on a range of sources, this work recreates the world which first thwarted and then nurtured the young Hitler. As his seemingly pitiful fantasy of being Germany's saviour attracted more and more support, it conveys why so many Germans adored Hitler, connived with him or felt powerless to resist him.

Antonia Fraser's bestselling biography of Henry VIII's six wives - a subject of enduring fascination.

Bestselling novelist with an enormous critical reputation takes on one of the most popular and enduring English novelists of all.

Che Guevara's dream was an epic one - to unite Latin America and the rest of the developing world through armed revolution, and to end once and for all the poverty, injustice and petty nationalisms that had bled it for centuries. This work tells the tale of revolution, international intrigue and covert operations.

Presents the history of Shakespeare, following him through a single year that changed not only his fortunes, but the course of literature. In this one year, we follow what he reads and writes, what he saw, and who he worked with as he creates four of his most famous plays - Henry V , Julius Caesar , As You Like It , and Hamlet .

The inside story of the one of the most successful British stand-up comedians, as told by the person best qualified to reveal all about the man behind the comic, his wife of 10 years -- Pamela Stephenson.

Drawing upon first-hand sources and never-before-opened archives, historian Robert Dallek provides a revealing portrait of John F. Kennedy, which should alter the way we think about his life, his presidency and his legacy.

A story of the author's early years at school and with his family. It features Quentin Blake cover and a section of facts about the author.

* A fascinating exploration of the troubled life of one of America's greatest writers.