The Woman and Her Legend

Florence Nightingale

A major biography which overturns many of our misconceptions about one of the greatest figures of the Victorian Age

Winner of the Elizabeth Longford prize for Historical Biography 
'Engrossing' Claire Tomalin / 'Superb' Sunday Times / 'A triumph' Daily Mail 
 
Whether honoured and admired or criticized and ridiculed, Florence Nightingale has invariably been misrepresented and misunderstood. As the Lady with the Lamp, ministering to the wounded and dying of the Crimean War, she offers an enduring image of sentimental appeal and one that is permanently lodged in our national consciousness. But the awesome scale of her achievements over the course of her 90 years is infinitely more troubling - and inspiring - than this mythical simplification. 
 
From her tireless campaigning and staggering intellectual abilities to her tortured relationship with her sister and her distressing medical condition, this vivid and immensely readable biography draws on a wealth of unpublished material and previously unseen family papers, disentangling the myth from the reality and reinvigorating with new life one of the most iconic figures in modern British history. 
 
'Enthralling' Guardian 
 
'Excellent' Spectator 
 
'Hugely readable' Lancet 
 
'Gripping and faultless' Observer, Books of the Year 
 
'Remarkable. A subtle, scholarly and immensely readable portrait. Scrupulous, thoughtful and clear-eyed. A masterly achievement' Financial Times 
 
'It will not be superseded for generations to come' Sunday Telegraph

Brilliantly evoked ... Bostridge paints a moving picture ... It is hard to imagine how one might improve upon Bostridge's masterly understanding

Mark Bostridge won the Gladstone Memorial Prize at Oxford University. His books include Vera Brittain: A Life, shortlisted for the Whitbread Biography Award; the bestselling Letters from a Lost Generation, also adapted for a BBC Radio Four series; Lives for Sale, a collection of biographers' tales that was a Radio Four 'Book of the Week'; and Because You Died, a recent selection of Vera Brittain's First World War poetry and prose. Florence Nightingale was awarded the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography.

The soldier's saviour, the standard-bearer of modern nursing, a pioneering social reformer - and much else besides - Florence Nightingale belongs to that select band of historical characters who are instantly recognisable. As the Lady with the Lamp, ministering to the wounded and dying of the Crimean War, she offers an enduring image of sentimental appeal, and one that is permanently lodged in the national consciousness. She has been honoured and admired, criticised and ridiculed. More often than not, she has been misrepresented and misunderstood. 
 
In this remarkable book, the first major biography of Florence Nightingale in over fifty years, Mark Bostridge draws on a wealth of unpublished material, including previously unseen family papers, to throw significant new light on this extraordinary woman's life and character. By disentangling elements of myth from the reality, Bostridge has written a vivid and immensely readable account of one of the most iconic figures in modern British history.

England 1914

The Fateful Year

The Fateful Year by Mark Bostridge is the story of England in 1914. War with Germany, so often imagined and predicted, finally broke out when people were least prepared for it. 
 
Here, among a crowded cast of unforgettable characters, are suffragettes, armed with axes, destroying works of art, schoolchildren going on strike in support of their teachers, and celebrity aviators thrilling spectators by looping the loop. A theatrical diva prepares to shock her audience, while an English poet in the making sets out on a midsummer railway journey that will result in the creation of a poem that remains loved and widely known to this day. 
 
With the coming of war, England is beset by rumour and foreboding. There is hysteria about German spies, fears of invasion, while patriotic women hand out white feathers to men who have failed to rush to their country's defence. In the book's final pages, a bomb falls from the air onto British soil for the first time, and people live in expectation of air raids. 
 
As 1914 fades out, England is preparing itself for the prospect of a war of long duration. 
 
Mark Bostridge won the Gladstone Memorial Prize at Oxford University. His first book Vera Brittain: A Life was shortlisted for the Whitbread Biography Prize, the NCR NonFiction Award, and the Fawcett Prize. His books also include the bestselling Letters from a Lost Generation; Lives for Sale, a collection of biographers' tales; Because You Died, a selection of Vera Brittain's First World War poetry and prose; and Florence Nightingale: The Woman and her Legend, which was named as a Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2008 and awarded the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. The Fateful Year was shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2015.

An absorbing kaleidoscope of events and episodes . . . Hints, forewarnings, inadvertent prophecies of what was to come spike the air like pollen. There's no doubting this book's eye for a good story, or the skill in telling it

Brisk and enjoyable, full of unexpected fascinations

A truly gripping chronicle of the mood of a nation moving unwittingly towards catastrophe. Bostridge moves deftly between public event and vivid personal experience with sympathy and imagination

Spy hysteria, petty disputes, shocking art . . . an ingeniously constructed picture of England in 1914

A masterly snapshot of the moment before the world went mad

A wonderfully atmospheric narrative for those who are interested in the period but want more than just trenches and treaties

A moving and myth-confronting account of 1914, Bostridge invigorates the familiar story of a year of two halves, when seven months of peace gave way to the worst period of conflict in world history. The humanity of this book intensifies the poignancy of hindsight and heightens one's awareness of the anguish felt by those survivors who remained behind

An excellent introduction to this year's centenary of the War To End All Wars and a highly readable account for history buffs

As Bostridge shows in this beautifully written and detailed book, 1914 was a 'fateful year', England was truly never the same again

As mesmerising as a great historical novel

Mark Bostridge won the Gladstone Memorial Prize at Oxford University. His first book Vera Brittain: A Life was shortlisted for the Whitbread Biography Prize, the NCR Non-Fiction Award, and the Fawcett Prize. His books also include the bestselling Letters from a Lost Generation; Lives for Sale, a collection of biographers' tales; Because You Died; and The Fateful Year: England 1914 published in 2014. Florence Nightingale was awarded the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography.

The Fateful Year is the story of England in 1914. War with Germany, so often imagined and predicted, finally broke out when people were least prepared for it. 
 
Here, among a crowded cast of unforgettable characters, are suffragettes armed with axes, and celebrity aviators thrilling spectators by looping the loop. 
 
With the coming of war, England is beset by spy hysteria and fears of invasion. Patriotic women hand out white feathers to men who have failed to rush to their country's defence. 
 
And as 1914 fades out, England prepares itself for the prospect of a war of long duration.

Mark Bostridge

The Woman and Her Legend: 200th Anniversary Edition

Whether honoured and admired or criticized and ridiculed, Florence Nightingale has invariably been misrepresented and misunderstood. As the Lady with the Lamp, ministering to the wounded and dying of the Crimean War, she offers an enduring image of sentimental appeal and one that is permanently lodged in our national consciousness. But the awesome scale of her achievements over the course of her 90 years is infinitely more troubling - and inspiring - than this mythical simplification. 
 
 From her tireless campaigning and staggering intellectual abilities to her tortured relationship with her sister and her distressing medical condition, this vivid and immensely readable biography draws on a wealth of unpublished material and previously unseen family papers, disentangling the myth from the reality and reinvigorating with new life one of the most iconic figures in modern British history.

Mark Bostridge

Books by Mark Bostridge

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