'A witty, unforgettable celebration of the courage, genius and defiance that changed the course of history' Jacob Rees-Mogg

'Gimson makes excellent cases for all his choices. His cardinal point about heroes, "seen from Homer to Hollywood, is that they are enjoyable". That is so right: no one who is immensely worthy but boring can be a hero'

'This is a lovely book to dip in and out of, every visit an education' John Rentoul

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 Glynd r 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