A brilliant compendium of Britain's most renowned heroes from Boudicca to Mandela, illustrated by Martin Rowson.

Heroes have flaws, but their stories stir the soul. In Gimson's Heroes, bestselling author Andrew Gimson traces the lives of fifty astonishing individuals who had the courage to defy conventional wisdom.

From Horatio Nelson disobeying orders to Lord Byron scandalising polite society; Grace Darling rowing through a deadly storm to Florence Nightingale teaching the British how to nurse - these icons are no mere monuments of history, but living, breathing people of daring and defiance. Here are stories of resolve and sacrifice: Wallace Hartley plays on as the Titanic goes down, Noor Inayat Khan refuses to flee from occupied France, Stan Hollis storms an enemy pillbox and Nelson Mandela brings down the white regime in South Africa.

A hero, Gimson concludes, is someone with the courage, originality and genius to see what must be done - and to dare to do it, no matter the cost. Complemented by Martin Rowson's uniquely charming illustrations, Gimson's Heroes is a witty, fascinating and lively celebration of the extraordinary legacies of those who went further than most would ever dream.

The fifty Heroes included in the book are:

Boudicca c.25-60/61 AD

Alfred the Great 848-899

King Harold c.1022-1066

Robert the Bruce 1274-1329

Julian of Norwich 1342-1416

Owain Glyndŵr c.1359 - c.1415

Bess of Hardwick c.1522 or 1527-1608

Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603

Sir Francis Drake 1540-1596

Sir Walter Raleigh 1552-1618

Sir Philip Sidney 1554-1586

William Shakespeare 1564-1616

George Herbert 1593-1633

Gerrard Winstanley 1609-1676

Prince Rupert of the Rhine 1619-1682

Robert Boyle 1627-1691

Thomas Coram 1668-1751

Samuel Johnson 1709-1784

James Wolfe 1727-1759

Edmund Burke 1729-1797

James Boswell 1740-1795

Thomas Telford 1757-1834

Horatio Nelson 1758-1805

Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797

Thomas Clarkson 1760-1846

Jane Austen 1775-1817

Elizabeth Fry 1780-1845

George Stephenson 1781-1848

Lord Byron 1788-1824

Lord Shaftesbury 1801-1885

Benjamin Disraeli 1804-1881

Isambard Kingdom Brunel 1806-1859

Charles Dickens 1812-1870

David Livingstone 1813-1873

Grace Darling 1815-1842

Prince Albert 1819-1861

Florence Nightingale 1820-1910

Octavia Hill 1838-1912

Fred Burnaby 1842-1885

Ernest Shackleton 1874-1922

Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965

Wallace Hartley 1878-1912

Ernest Bevin 1881-1951

The Unknown Warrior died c. 1914

John Betjeman 1906-1984

Stan Hollis 1912-1972

Michael Wharton 1913-2006

Noor Inayat Khan 1914-1944

Prince Alexander Obolensky 1916-1940

Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Praise for the three previous Gimson books:

Gimson's Kings & Queens: Brief Lives of the Monarchs since 1066

'The most entertaining and instructive book on the English monarchy you will ever read' Daily Telegraph

Gimson's Prime Ministers: Brief Lives from Walpole to Johnson

'The best general book on British politics I've ever come across. Learned, witty and wise, and splendidly illustrated by Martin Rowson' Tibor Fischer, Guardian

Gimson's Presidents: Brief Lives from Washington to Trump

'This is history at its liveliest and most enjoyable. Most presidential biographies are abominably long-winded and reverential. With miniaturist wit and precision, Gimson manages to compress all the salient facts about each president into five or six pages, while offering beautifully crafted insights into their characters and temperaments ...There is something fascinating or funny on every page' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday