Political Biographies

Excellent, grappling with aspects of end of empire that tend to fall through the cracks' -AL MURRAY As the fate of the world is decided, so too is that of the British, Dutch and French empires. In India, a generation committed to independence must decide whether to support 'the Raj' or fight alongside the Japanese. One military family is bitterly...

On the centenary of her birth, Elizabeth II is a delightful, intimate new portrait of the late Queen from bestselling biographer and royal commentator Robert Hardman, which is full of fresh details about this extraordinary woman. As daughter, wife, mother and Sovereign, Elizabeth II lived fascinating parallel lives, both in private and in public. But she remained something of a...

In 1924, into the tiny town of Warrnambool, which then had a population of a fraction under 4000 people, there came a travelling salesman... The remarkable life and achievements of Fletcher Jones. Australians of a certain generation all know Fletcher Jones - the stores, the clothing, the daggy dad slacks - but not many people know the extraordinary story of...

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES, TELEGRAPH, DAILY MAIL, TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES ‘ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY, MIND-BLOWINGLY EXPLOSIVE’ ED BALLS 'SENSATIONAL' DAILY MAIL THE UNMISSABLE, UNVARNISHED MEMOIRS OF BORIS JOHNSON Boris Johnson has always been larger than life. Controversial, untrammelled by the normal rules of politics, his route to becoming Britain’s prime minister...

Astonishing... Brings to life a thriving – and rather civilized – empire - The Telegraph Sparkles with energy, insight and passion... difficult to put down. Nicholas Morton, BBC History Magazine Control the sea, and you control everything... a gripping tale of dynastic rivalry and innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern...

The deepest dive yet into the heart and soul, secret affairs, unexplored alliances, and bitter feuds of a generally worshipped, intermittently reviled American icon. Perhaps no founding father is as mysterious as Thomas Jefferson. The author of the Declaration of Independence was both a gifted wordsmith and a bundle of nerves. His superior knowledge of the human heart is captured...

Thomas Jefferson has been reinvented more than perhaps any American president in history. In the nineteenth century, slavery's defenders invoked Jefferson's defence of states' rights, while abolitionists drew on his antislavery writings to support their cause. After the Civil War, Jefferson's reputation declined because of his association with secession and disunion, but in the twentieth century, his image soared as...

Winner of the National Book Award The classic political biography that reimagined Revolutionary history—in a new edition to honour America's 250th year. Thomas Hutchinson, governor of Massachusetts Bay during the restive years of 1771-1774, was the most distinguished colonial-born official in pre-Revolutionary America. He was also the most loathed. A loyalist, Hutchinson defended the legitimacy of Parliament's rule and suffered...

'A remarkable story' - Arun Kundnani, author of The Muslims are Coming! In 2003, 23-year-old Uzair Paracha was arrested by the US government and branded a terrorist. A Pakistani man living in New York, he was accused of providing 'material support' to al-Qaeda - a vague, catch-all charge invented in the chaotic aftermath of 9/11. He was offered a plea...

Song Jiaoren (1882-1913) was early-twentieth-century China's greatest champion of constitutional democracy. Fleeing the police after a failed plot in 1904, the young revolutionary found refuge in Japan, where his eyes were opened to new political possibilities. Along with Sun Yatsen, he was one of the founders of the Nationalist Party, turning an underground organisation into a nationwide force. After the...

A luminous, groundbreaking biography of one of the most important literary figures of the twentieth century, best known for the poem “Deathfugue.” Paul Celan (1920–1970) was recognized as the greatest poet of the German language shortly before his tragic death just shy of his fiftieth birthday, when he drowned himself in the Seine. He described his “Todesfuge” (“Deathfugue”) as a...

The third and final volume of Kevin Hymel's Patton's War trilogy finds Lieutenant General George S. Patton on January 1, 1945, as the master of the battlefield in World War II Europe. Throughout the war, Patton showed the same kind of aggressive leadership and battlefield smarts that made his name synonymous with victory. Patton's leadership was almost flawless as he...

An annotated translation of Alexander Herzen’s monumental memoir, Past and Thoughts—the first new English-language edition in a century—captures the tumultuous life and penetrating cultural and political insights of the writer widely regarded as the founder of Russian socialism. Isaiah Berlin called Alexander Herzen’s magnum opus, Past and Thoughts, “a literary masterpiece worthy to be placed by the side of the...

The first full account of the relationship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, countering the legend of their enmity while drawing vital historical lessons from the differences that arose between them. Martha Washington's worst memory was her husband's death. Her second worst was Thomas Jefferson's awkward visit to pay respects to his estranged friend. Yet this estrangement has obscured the...

In Out West, Colin Barnett traces the modern economic and political story of Western Australia through the lens of his own life and leadership. He reflects on the forces that have shaped the state's development. Vast in scale and physically isolated, Western Australia has long been seen as different, yet it has emerged as Australia's leading export state, responsible for...

The remarkable story of a trailblazing Australian diplomat who redefined what's possible—and what it means to belong. From childhood migration to a history-making diplomatic career, Australian Ambassador traces the remarkable journey of Jenny Bloomfield, who arrived in Australia from Greece at twelve and, decades later, became both the first Greek Australian and the first woman to serve as Australia's ambassador...

From the terrified kid who combated brutal racism to one of the first British-born Black men to serve in the SAS, this is the extraordinary true story of a courageous fighter who never backed down. Familiar to many from his season on the Directing Staff of Channel 4's Who Dares Wins, Melvyn Downes served in the SAS for 12 years....

The culture war is over. If you want it to be. It wasn't even a culture war; it was a war on culture. A sustained attack, Dan Hicks argues, in the form of the weaponisation of civic museums, public art, and even universities—and one that has a deeper history than you might think. Tracing the origins of contemporary conflicts over...

A sweeping, dramatic history of capitalism as seen through the eyes of its fiercest critics. At a time when we are faced with fundamental questions about the sustainability and morality of the economic system, Capitalism and Its Critics provides a kaleidoscopic history of global capitalism, from colonialism and the Industrial Revolution to the ecological crisis and artificial intelligence. John Cassidy...

New York Times bestselling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty—his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts. One of the Washington Post's Notable Works of Nonfiction of 2021 When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies...

A New York Times Bestseller In this uplifting Holocaust survivor memoir in the vein of The Last Lecture and Man's Search for Meaning, a survivor pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom, and living his best possible life. Born in Leipzig, Germany, into a Jewish family, Eddie Jaku was a teenager when his...

New York Times Readers' Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century The tenth anniversary edition of the internationally bestselling phenomenon that cemented Yuval Noah Harari as one of the most prominent historians of our time—featuring a new afterword from the author. One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one....

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years,...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "With remarkable detail gleaned from a wealth of research, journalist and author Holden relates the three women's unforgettable journey from their imprisonment in ghettos to their arrival at Auschwitz. . . . An astonishing and deeply moving work." --Booklist (starred review) The Nazis murdered their husbands, but concentration camp prisoners Priska, Rachel, and Anka would not...

Ireland, under both the Irish Free State and after full independence, has now had just over 100 years of autonomous national political leadership. This book, based on Iain Dale's blockbuster podcast, tells the story of Irish politics over the past century by examining the lives and actions of each Irish Taoiseach, from W.T. Cosgrave to Micheál Martin. Fifteen leading Irish...

"This century's most compelling theorist of racism and colonialism." – Angela Davis The sixtieth anniversary edition of Frantz Fanon's landmark text, now with a new introduction by Cornel West First published in 1961, and reissued in this sixtieth anniversary edition with a powerful new introduction by Cornel West, Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth is a masterful and timeless...

'Of all the books about the ground war in the Pacific, With the Old Breed is the closest to a masterpiece.' - The New York Review of Books 'One of the most arresting documents in war literature.' - John Keegan, in The Second World War E.B. Sledge's memoir of his experience fighting in the South Pacific during World War II...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A "gripping book about this extraordinary man who lived passionately and died unnecessarily" (USA Today) in post-9/11 Afghanistan, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air. In 2002, Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of American patriotism. When he was killed in...

A New York Times bestseller: A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at life on Pennsylvania Avenue with America's first families, by the man who spent nearly three decades in their midst. J. B. West, chief usher of the White House, directed the operations and maintenance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—and coordinated its daily life—at the request of the president and his family. He...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Seabiscuit comes the incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: Unbroken and Unbroken: Path to Redemption. “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so...

In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald's only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world's health, economic security, and social fabric. Mary...

In darkness God's truth shines most clear. Corrie ten Boom was the first licensed female watchmaker in the Netherlands who became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable ministers of hope in the twentieth century. In World War II she and her family risked their lives to help Jews and...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this “riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult” (Los Angeles Times). “A feast of historical insight and narrative verve . . . This is Erik...

The National Book Award-winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society. Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America—it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. As award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and...

Red Notice does for investing in Russia and the former Soviet Union what Liar's Poker did for our understanding of Salomon Brothers, Wall Street, and the mortgage-backed securities business in the 1980s. Browder's business saga meshes.

An updated edition of a classic African American autobiography, with new supplementary materials. The preeminent American slave narrative first published in 1845, Frederick Douglass's Narrative powerfully details the life of the abolitionist from his birth into slavery in 1818 to his escape to the North in 1838. It describes how he endured the daily physical and spiritual brutalities of his...

A National Review Top Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Century “One of Orwell’s very best books and perhaps the best book that exists on the Spanish Civil War.”—The New Yorker In 1936, originally intending merely to report on the Spanish Civil War as a journalist, George Orwell found himself embroiled as a participant—as a member of the Workers’ Party...

TENTH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED COLLECTOR'S EDITION Roxane Gay's New York Times bestselling debut collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism—a modern classic from one of the most prominent voices of her generation—is now available in a beautifully designed Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition, with a stunning foil cover and hot pink sprayed edges. This is the perfect collector's edition for her...

A novelist once wrote, “There are stories one must tell, and years when one must tell them.” Jill Biden’s time to discuss her four years in the White House is now. Jill Biden became First Lady at a complicated moment in US history, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the shadow of the January 6 insurrection. These...

The real story of how the Guinness family created the largest brewery in the world. Arthur Edward Guinness, the 4th Earl of Iveagh and head of the Guinness family, is only too aware of the immense legacy of his extraordinary family. In this narrative non-fiction book, he draws on family letters, archives and photographs to tell, for the first time,...

When did Russia lose its chance of freedom? 1990: As a new openness sweeps Russia, a talented young physicist, Boris Nemtsov, begins his career in politics. Charismatic, confident, liberal and vehemently opposed to corruption, he swiftly rises to prominence. For the first time, another future seems possible. 2015: Putin holds the country in the grip of tyranny once more. Nemtsov,...

World traveller and student of religions, Blavatsky was among the first to bring Eastern wisdom to the West. Her writings excited such luminaries as W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Gustav Mahler. Here are first-hand accounts of her colourful life by family, friends, and enemies. The Esoteric World of Madame Blavatsky offers a fascinating glimpse into the...

Fluent and witty . . . confident . . . highly readable Kathryn Hughes, GUARDIAN Lively and accomplished Sophie Duncan, LITERARY REVIEW Engaging, enthusiastic and informative Philip Hensher, SPECTATOR Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of Super-Infinite Was Shakespeare gay? The answer is both simpler and more complex than you might...

John Maynard Keynes is arguably the most important and influential economist of the twentieth century, and stands alongside Adam Smith and Karl Marx as one of the most famous economic thinkers of all time. Keynes's radical reassessment of the accepted principles of economics led to new ways of thinking about how to deal with financial crises and economic depressions, and...

Elliot Carlson's award-winning biography of Capt. Joe Rochefort is the first to be written about the officer who headed Station Hypo, the U.S. Navy's signals monitoring and cryptographic intelligence unit at Pearl Harbor, and who broke the Japanese Navy's code before the Battle of Midway. The book brings Rochefort to life as the irreverent, fiercely independent, and consequential officer that...

A monumental work, expansive in scope, covering the life, times and culture of that most famous of the Wobblies—songwriter, poet, hobo, thinker, humourist, martyr—Joe Hill. It is a journey into the Wobbly culture that made Hill and the capitalist culture that killed him. Many aspects of the life and lore of Joe Hill receive their first and only discussion in...

The focus of this book is the leadership of Charles George Gordon, the governor-general of the Sudan, during the Turkiyya period (1821-85). The book analyses his administration and the political, economic and social developments under his leadership against a background of political unrest in Egypt and the weakening of Khedive Ismail's position in the face of increasing European financial imperialism....

Charles I provides a detailed overview of Charles Stuart, placing his reign firmly within the wider context of this turbulent period and examining the nature of one of the most complex monarchs in British history. The book is organised chronologically, beginning in 1600 and covering Charles’ early life, his first difficulties with his parliaments, the Personal Rule, the outbreak of...

Enshrouded within the annals of French history, a tale of unimaginable horror and perversion emerges. It is the story of Gilles de Rais, an aristocratic warrior revered as one of France's wealthiest and most respected men, and known as a close companion to none other than Joan of Arc herself on the battlefield. Yet, beyond the chivalrous facade, he devolved...

The epic story of a man born into Caribbean slavery, who defeated Napoleon's armies and crowned himself a free black king. How did a Caribbean child, born into plantation slavery, come to defeat Napoleon's armies in battle and crown himself king of the first free black nation in the Americas? This is the story of Henry Christophe: one of the...

A Political Biography of Delarivier Manley by Rachel Carnell explores the intriguing life of Delarivier Manley, a prominent figure recognised by her peers, Jonathan Swift and Robert Harley, as a crucial member of the Tory propaganda team. She was known for her work as a Tory pamphleteer, playwright, and satirical historian. This biography provides fascinating details about Manley's life, offering...

Winner of The High Plains Book Award for Non-Fiction A vivid biography of an African Edwardian chronicler of London, in a time of social upheaval. In a world dominated by the British Empire, and at a time when many Europeans considered black people inferior, Sierra Leonean writer A. B. C. Merriman-Labor claimed his right to describe the world as he...

The dramatic arc of Saigo Takamori's life, from his humble origins as a lowly samurai to national leadership, to his death as a rebel leader, has captivated generations of Japanese readers and now Americans as well. His life is the inspiration for a major Hollywood film, The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. In this vibrant new biography,...

By the presenter of the hit podcast EMPIRE The subject of a major exhibition at Kensington Palace throughout 2026 - The Last Princesses of the Punjab Sophia is the sort of remarkable, almost unbelievable untold true story that every writer dreams of chancing upon. A wonderful debut, written with real spirit and gusto. Anita Anand has produced a winner. William...

A richly illustrated look at the book collections of all 46 American presidents to date—and what we can learn from them about their owners. With a few exceptions, American presidents have been readers. This book surveys an outstanding collection by Susan Jaffe Tane that encompasses books every US president owned and collected as a part of their personal libraries, as...

Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45–120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece. He studied philosophy at Athens and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a...

Cicero was a prodigious letter writer, and happily a splendid treasury of his letters has come down to us: collected and in part published not long after his death, over 800 of them were rediscovered by Petrarch and other humanists in the fourteenth century. Among classical texts this correspondence is unparalleled; nowhere else do we get such an intimate look...

Published in the Bloomsbury Revelations series and featuring a new preface by the author, this classic biography by acclaimed historian Richard Overy takes the reader on a chilling journey into the heart of Hitler's inner circle. Goering was Hitler's most loyal supporter, his designated successor, and the second most powerful man in the Third Reich. As one of the main...

It’s midnight and there are fists pounding on the door. Authoritative voices shouting, “We’re coming in! Get on the floor!” A few terrorised minutes later a family member is dragged out by armed men, disappearing into the night. This scenario is the greatest fear of many twentieth-century families—and to the unlucky, it’s a lived reality. For the ethnic Chinese who...

Chen Hansheng was not only a pioneer of modern Chinese social science, remembered for the village studies he organised by teams of researchers in the 1930s. He was also a political operative whose career as an underground and aboveground Communist activist spanned the twentieth century and the globe. This book draws on unique interviews, beginning in 1979, with Chen himself,...

A Financial Times Book of the Year ‘Thoroughly researched.’ Sunday Times ‘To be devoured.’ Philip Mansel 'This book is a treat for fans of well-told history.' Washington Post History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici. In this new biography of the most powerful woman in...

Lust, science, adventure — Joseph Banks and his voyages of discovery The extraordinary life of one of the world's most famous and notorious adventurers Sir Joseph Banks was a man of passion whose influence spanned the globe. A fearless adventurer, his fascination with beautiful women was only trumped by his obsession with the natural world and his lust for scientific...

Available once again, the definitive biography of the pioneering Black performer—the first nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award—who broke new ground in Hollywood and helped transform American society in the years before the Civil Rights movement—a remarkable woman of her time who also transcended it. “An ambitious, rigorously researched account of the long-ignored film star and chanteuse. . ....

A revised and updated edition of award-winning historian Ross McMullin's acclaimed history of the Australian Labor Party - an entertaining, action-packed, warts-and-all narrative full of illuminating pen-portraits and vivid anecdotes. The story is told through the people who made it. All Labor's prime ministers feature - Watson, Fisher, Hughes, Scullin, Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke, Keating, Rudd, Gillard, and Albanese. The...

The bestselling author of The Ruin of All Witches returns with a gripping, vividly told journey into his family's wartime past. Malcolm Gaskill knew two things about his great-uncle Ralph's wartime adventures: he'd been a prisoner in Italy, and he'd cut his way out of a train with a knife and fork. Apart from that, he'd faded into family folklore,...

Wry, off-beat and subversive - a Jewish family memoir like no other, from the author of the cult classic novel Submarine. Joe Dunthorne had always wanted to write about his great-grandfather, Siegfried - an eccentric scientist who invented radioactive toothpaste and a Jewish refugee from the Nazis who returned to Germany under cover of the Berlin Olympics to pull off...

The definitive biography of Hideki Tojo, the controversial general who redefined military leadership in Showa-era Japan before his downfall during World War II. The military general who became Emperor Hirohito's prime minister, Hideki Tojo is most often remembered as an iron-fisted leader who dragged Japan into World War II and—after spectacular losses—was eventually executed as a war criminal. Yet Tojo...

The story of Pausanias, the general who defeated the Persians invading Greece and changed the course of history Weaving together ancient sources, Daniel Ogden tells the gripping story of the enigmatic and controversial Spartan regent to an underage king. Pausanias (ca. 505–ca. 467 BCE) would never have come to power had the Persians not annihilated the Greek forces at Thermopylae...

A study of six prominent postwar politicians in the United Kingdom. Making the Weather is the story of six postwar politicians, all of whom exerted an outsized influence on the political life of the United Kingdom—an influence greater than that of most prime ministers. Vernon Bogdanor's cast includes three from the political Left—Aneurin "Nye" Bevan, Roy Jenkins, and Tony Benn—and...

Benjamin Franklin was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. Driven by curiosity, he conducted cutting-edge research on electricity, heat, ocean currents, weather patterns, chemical bonds, and plants. But today, Franklin is remembered more for his political prowess and diplomatic achievements than his scientific creativity. In this incisive and rich account of Benjamin Franklin's life and career, Richard Munson...

The compelling story of a little-known figure in the American Revolution, now available in paperback for the first time, with a new foreword by Iris de Rode. In 1776, the playwright and inventor Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732–99) conceived an audacious plan to send aid to the American rebels. What's more, he convinced King Louis XVI to bankroll the project...

A new perspective on ancient Athens at the height of its powers, reinterpreting the city's supposed "Golden Age" as a period of ruinous culture wars. The age of Pericles, in the fifth century BC, is often described as the Golden Age of Athens. The city witnessed a flowering of philosophy, art, and architecture—including an ambitious building programme, with the Parthenon...

The Illustrated Directory of Watches is a beautiful book that will provide watch enthusiasts with a fully illustrated and comprehensive guide on all things watches. From historical timelines and facts, this beautifully photographed book will inform and excite both the novice and veteran watch aficionado. Enclosed is perhaps the most ambitious and lavishly illustrated history of watches for the collector...

Over the course of a decade as a minister, Liz Truss sought to champion limited government and individual freedom in the face of the left-wing political agenda that frames the debate in so many institutions. Ousted by the establishment but still fighting for conservatism, Truss argues here that the rise of authoritarianism and the adoption of fashionable ideas propagated by...

The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945 was hailed as a triumph of British victory over Nazi Germany. But for the 55,000 survivors of the 'Horror Camp', freedom brought new tragedy: a quarter died in the following five weeks. For many of those who lived, liberation meant barbed wire, military rule and a different kind of confinement....

A fascinating, provocative, timely reflection -- Rory Stewart Superb -- Daily Express A vivid biography in cinematic snapshots of David Lloyd George, one of the world’s greatest statesmen. Brought up in rural North Wales, David Lloyd George attended neither a grand school nor ancient university. He was very much an outsider. And yet he rose through the ranks with charisma,...

A vivid, compelling portrait of the intertwined lives of Aboriginal people and new arrivals in the fledgling colonies. Musquito was just a boy when a convoy of eleven British ships assembled in the waters of Port Jackson in January 1788. Seventeen years later, he was a warrior fighting for Country west of Sydney, hunted by white colonists. Exiled, in Van...

From the factory floor to the presidency: the extraordinary story of President Lula's fight to change Brazil In October 2022, Lula was once again elected President of Brazil, replacing the far-right strongman Bolsonaro, sparking an insurrection, and exiling the fallen demagogue to the US. Lula won by promising to save the Amazon and to give power back to the Brazilian...

A serious and consequential analysis of a serious and consequential politician — Alastair Campbell Fascinating and well written — Matthew Parris Tells us more than we have ever known about this highly significant figure — Shelagh Fogarty A compelling new biography of former prime minister Gordon Brown, a dominant figure in the Labour Party for five decades. More than fifteen...

'A thoroughly rapacious woman...as cruel as she is greedy' Cicero 'A woman who took no thought for spinning or housekeeping...meddlesome and headstrong' Plutarch '[She] caused the death of many, both to satisfy her enmity and to gain their wealth' Cassius Dio 'She acted in a haughty manner towards those who were placing her in a position to be arrogant' Orosius...