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A History of the World in 51 Heroes and Villains

From the award-winning podcast The Rest is History and Sunday Times bestselling authors Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook comes a riotous deep dive into history’s biggest heroes and most notorious villains.

Welcome to a shadowy realm where the divide between the noble and the nefarious isn’t quite as clear as it seems. Where supposed saints appear suspiciously traitorous, and so-called scoundrels reveal unexpected glimmers of virtue. Prepare for sword fights, scandals and enough moral ambiguity to make Machiavelli blush from the imperial court of eleventh-century Japan to the studios of twentieth-century Hollywood.

Along the way, Holland and Sandbrook debate questions like:

• Was Caligula an irredeemable monster or history’s favourite scandal magnet?
• Was Joan of Arc a saintly saviour or a dangerous heretic?
• Was Wojtek the bear a true Second World War hero or simply a cuddly mascot?
• Was Elizabeth I a true Virgin Queen or just brilliant at branding?
  

So polish your armour, don your villainous moustache and get ready to choose a side in the ultimate showdown between history’s greats and rogues…