A vividly written and intensely researched new biography of an iconic figure in British history

This is Vanessa Collingridge's second book. Her first, Captain Cook, was described as 'extremely engaging' (The Sunday Times) and 'lively and ambitious' (Spectator). Having studied Geography at Oxford, Vanessa became a writer and broadcaster for the Telegraph, Radio 4, and ITV's Tonight. During 2004 she presented a two-day live astrological watch with Adam Hart-Davies on BBC1, a series on Scottish history for STV/Grampian, and was one of Alan Titchmarsh's co-presenters in the major BBC TV series, The Natural History of Britain.