Explorer Benedict Allen chooses Horatio Nelson. Read more
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Nelson
Explorer Benedict Allen chooses Horatio Nelson.
Antonia Quirke on Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando - greatest actor of the twentieth century?
US Ambassador Matthew Barzun on JG Winant
Matthew Parris meets US Ambassador Matthew Barzun to talk about his wartime predecessor.
David Blunkett on Louis Braille
Matthew Parris hears from David Blunkett about the life of Louis Braille. From 2015.
Val McDermid on PD James
Matthew Parris talks to crime writer Val McDermid about the life of PD James.
Ian McKellen on Edmund Hillary
Sir Ian McKellen nominates mountaineer Edmund Hillary as his inspirational figure.
Vicky Pryce on Melina Mercouri
Economist Vicky Pryce nominates the Greek film star and politician Melina Mercouri.
Michael Howard on Elizabeth I
Michael Howard, Conservative Party former leader, tells Matthew Parris about Elizabeth I.
George Washington Williams
Ade Adepitan champions the life of George Washington Williams.
Monica Ali chooses Richard Francis Burton
The author Monica Ali champions the life of the explorer Richard Francis Burton.
Genghis Khan
American commentator Joe Queenan chooses the Mongol leader Genghis Khan.
Frances Crook on Barbara Castle
Frances Crook proposes Labour politician Barbara Castle. Roy Hattersley is witness
Hannah Rothschild on Thelonious Monk
Hannah Rothschild looks back at the life of jazz musician Thelonious Monk.
Nick Stadlen on Bram Fischer
Nick Stadlen champions the life of the Afrikaner Revolutionary Bram Fischer.
Toyah Willcox on Katharine Hepburn
Toyah Willcox nominates her hero Katharine Hepburn who she met and worked with.
Dickie Bird on the life of Sir Leonard Hutton
Dickie Bird champions his hero Sir Leonard Hutton.
Roger Saul chooses Gertrude Jekyll
Fashion designer Roger Saul chooses garden designer Gertrude Jekyll
Alvin Hall chooses James Baldwin
Matthew Parris meets financial guru Alvin Hall, whose hero is James Baldwin.
Precious Lunga chooses Wangari Maathai
Matthew Parris explores the remarkable life of Professor Wangari Maathai.
Martin Jennings on Charles Sargeant Jagger
Martin Jennings nominates the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger.
Susan Calman on Molly Weir
Comedian Susan Calman chooses the life of actress Molly Weir.
Nitin Sawhney on Jeff Buckley
Nitin Sawhney champions the life of American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley
Eliza Manningham-Buller chooses Abraham Lincoln
Eliza Manningham-Buller on why she regards Abraham Lincoln as a great life.
Alfred Hitchcock
Anthony Horowitz champions the life of Alfred Hitchcock.
Nancy Dell'Olio chooses the life of Lucrezia Borgia
Nancy Dell'Olio champions the much maligned Lucrezia Borgia.
Ray Peacock chooses the life of Lenny Bruce
Comedian Ray Peacock nominates the controversial life of Lenny Bruce.
Sudha Bhuchar chooses the life of Zohra Sehgal
Playwright and actress Sudha Bhuchar nominates the life of actor Zohra Sehgal.
Graeme Lamb on Christine Granville
Lt-Gen Sir Graeme Lamb champions wartime spy Christine Granville. Matthew Parris chairs
Richard the Lionheart
Timmy Mallett chooses Richard the Lionheart. With Helen Castor and Matthew Parris.
Charles Moore on Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
Cancer pioneer Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, killed by an IRA bomb when he was just 45.
George Fox
George Fox, founder of the Quakers, nominated by Ann Limb