Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale

The Woman and Her Legend

Summary

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with her sister and her distressing medical condition, this vivid and immensely readable biography draws on a wealth of unpublished material and previously unseen family papers, disentangling the myth from the reality and reinvigorating with new life one of the most iconic figures in modern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'It will not be superseded for generations to come' Sunday Telegraph

Reviews

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

About the author

Mark Bostridge

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.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more