Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2001-2004
Lawrence Goldman (ed.)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2001-2004
Who are the men and women who have shaped modern Britain? This new book, drawn from the award-winning Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, brings together the life stories of more than 800 individuals who died between 2001 and 2004. These are the people responsible for some of the major developments in national life during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Alongside those who left their mark in politics, the arts, business, law, military service, sport, and education are leading figures in new branches of science and medicine-such as genetics, transplantation, and computing-and in new forms of entertainment and communication-from Radio One to the mobile phone.
4.5 out of 5 based on 2 reviews
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Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Reference, Biography |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
1268 |
| RRP |
£95.00 |
| Date of Publication |
March 2009 |
| ISBN |
978-0199562442 |
| Publisher |
OUP |
| |
Who are the men and women who have shaped modern Britain? This new book, drawn from the award-winning Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, brings together the life stories of more than 800 individuals who died between 2001 and 2004. These are the people responsible for some of the major developments in national life during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Alongside those who left their mark in politics, the arts, business, law, military service, sport, and education are leading figures in new branches of science and medicine-such as genetics, transplantation, and computing-and in new forms of entertainment and communication-from Radio One to the mobile phone.
Reviews
The Literary Review
Paul Johnson
“The standard of accuracy is high, and useful endnotes discuss sources. What strikes me, however, is the omissions... The longest and best entry in this volume, some thirtyone columns, is on Roy Jenkins, by Anthony Howard... Certain categories get more than their due – dons, for instance, as one would expect. I had to smile when I found Christopher Hill described as a ‘great historian’, and I laughed out loud when Stuart Hampshire was praised as ‘a reviewer of near genius’.”
01/06/2009
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The Spectator
Geoffrey Wheatcroft
“If the fact that its 1,254 pages cover people who died within the space of only four years suggests some degree of inflation, that’s a fault on the right side, and this volume contains many fascinating as well as dubious personages. But there are are other difficulties. When essays are commissioned on those who have just died, it is quite likely that the writer will have known the subject, and there can be advantages in that. The contrary drawback is that the friend will write too much as a friend.”
01/07/2009
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