This is a handsome book, but care must be taken to be clear about its subject. The sub‐title is: A Reader’s Guide to Nonfiction, Fictional, and Film Biographies of More Than 500 of the Most Fascinating Individuals of All Time. A description of one of the entries should help clarify. Entry number 154 ‐ the entries are arranged alphabetically ‐ is Edward VII. After a brief biographical introduction come the sub‐headings: “Autobiography” and “Primary sources” (details here of the Personal Letters of King Edward VII); “Recommended biographies” (books by Christopher Herbert, Philip Magnus, and George Plumbtre); “Other biographical studies” (16 of them for Bertie including four featuring Queen Alexandra and some of Edward’s paramours); “Biographical novels” (namely, David Butler’s Edward VII: Prince of Hearts and Michael Tyler‐Whittle’s Bertie, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales); “Fictional portraits” (six of them here in which the Prince/King figure); and “Biographical film and theatrical adaptations” (The Duchess of Duke Street (1976); Edward the King (1975) and Lillie (1996)). Not used for this entry is the sub‐heading “Recommended juvenile biographies”.
This, then, is a bibliographical source book which gives information about biographical materials available on popular historical figures, whether in books or on film and television (the popularity of the specialist film channels is noted). And not just documentary non‐fiction; historical figures often feature in novels. In addition to the bibliographical and film information, an important bonus is that the entries are mildly evaluative. Indeed, with the selection of the famous 500 chosen from individuals who have had at least 30 books produced on some aspect of their lives, work, or achievement, thank goodness they are! Although not intended as a scholarly annotated bibliography, the judgments can be relied on. Scope, strengths, weaknesses, and special features are stressed. Thus Juliet Barker’s The Brontës is the “definitive chronicle of the Brontës”, which it is, yet the special character of the work is also noted: “Charlotte is shown as ruthlessly self‐willed who dominated her sisters; Emily is seen as psychologically and physically dependent on her fantasy world; Anne emerges as a more daring and revolutionary writer than Charlotte; and Branwell sheds his reputation as a wastrel ...”. Great stuff. But if serious biography is not your fare, then James Tully’s fictional The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë may be your poison; or Olivia de Havilland as Charlotte in the 1946 film Devotion.
The book has two large indexes: an author index of 60 triple‐columned pages, and almost 100 pages indexing books and other works by title. Smaller indexes sort the famous 500 people into categories: by subject; by nationality; by occupation; and by time, period and place. “British” it seems, is no longer a nationality, we are English, Scottish or Welsh! (Where does that leave you and me, Ed.?)
The publishing information is US biased, and although there is a wide international selection of personalities, US characters are in the ascendancy: First Ladies Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and Eleanor Roosevelt perhaps merit mention, but Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison? All the sources quoted seem to be English language ones. Figures from the world of letters predominate ‐ about half the total I guess ‐ but there are lawyers, mathematicians, nurses, outlaws, philosophers … and First Ladies as well. Following Edward VII in the Es are Jonathan Edwards (the US theologian, not the UK triple jumper!), Albert Einstein, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Eliot, T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth I, Duke Ellington, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Desiderius Erasmus (on whom, I learn, Charles Reade’s 1861 classic The Cloister and the Hearth is based). Since the selection of the famous is based on what has been published as revealed by the catalogues of the excellent libraries in Connecticut (public and academic), we must accept that external criteria have largely determined selection, but I suspect a rather different selection might have followed the use of someone else’s catalogues, particularly in the UK, or Australia. A UK associate editor might have modified the US biases.
No criticism, though, can be levelled at the quality of the detail or the lively nature of the compiler’s assessments. I guess probably some 450 of those selected will be universally accepted as “important”, even “fascinating”, and so the work merits a place in most libraries. It is smartly produced and the layout is well thought out; these 629 large format pages are good value. It will be a useful quarry for background material and ideal for readers’ advisers who get asked for “Something on Edward the Seventh”, and subject specialists asked for material on the famous. Not a bad book for librarian stock editors either.
