Known as the ‘most influential African American’ of the nineteenth century, Frederick Douglass tells his story in his own words, providing the most powerful and eloquent indictment of slavery. He was a former slave who went on to become a famous orator and U.S. minister.

Jesmyn lost five young black men who were close to her in four short years. As she tried to make sense of these tragedies she came to realise that these unfortunate deaths were connected by place, identity, racism and economic struggle.

Doaa is from a village in Syria who in 2015 was one of eleven survivors of a boat that was carrying five hundred people that was deliberately capsized. Her story is that of millions of other refugees and why they are trying to escape the horrors of war and question our moral responsibilities.

Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr famous for being the wives of Henry VIII and the way their lives ended. Their story shows that it wasn’t just the King who had a feisty personality but they too were strong and intelligent despite the limitations that were put on them for being women.

Read about the madness and genius that was required in the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo suffered a terrible accident which crippled her as she was growing up during the Mexican Revolution, and in order to remain still she started to paint. A moving life story of an amazing artist whose personal life and political leanings were not dull.

Famous for E=MC^2 and his iconic hairstyle the biography exhibits Einstein’s personality which was rebellious and logical and his contribution to the atomic bomb and the civil rights groups in USA. It also shows the importance of creativity and freedom and its connection in developing great thinking.

The author of the best selling novel The Far Pavilions shares her enchanting life in three rich volumes detailing her childhood in India, boarding school in the U.K., then back in India as a young lady and then onto China when her father is posted there. You can see from her experiences the rich material she had to write her adventure-full novels which were drenched in atmosphere.

The Grandmother given to a warlord as a concubine, the mother a Communist and the daughter, the author, uses these biographies to build the history of China’s twentieth century. A phenomenal bestseller that will grip you with its descriptions, depth and breadth.

Barak Obama, the first African-American President of the United States America, tells the story. Born to a black African father and white American mother, living in Kansas, Hawaii and Indonesia and then eventually travelling to Kenya, to his father’s roots.