People

c. 1837–1888

Barghash was a son of Said bin Sultan and contested Majid’s rule of Zanzibar. In 1859 he led an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow his half-brother and […]

1 book

Barney Oldfield was one of the first great celebrities of American motor racing. Born Bernard Eli Oldfield in Ohio in 1878, he began as a competitive […]

1 series · 1 book

1010 BCE–938 BCE

Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah who becomes a wife of King David and the mother of Solomon. Her story links David’s abuse of royal power […]

1 book

1778–1840

George Bryan “Beau” Brummell was a leading figure in Regency society whose restrained clothing, meticulous grooming and social confidence helped redefine elite men’s fashion. A friend […]

1 series · 1 book

c. 1873–1910

Belle Elmore was the professional name used by Kunigunde Mackamotski, usually known after marriage as Cora Crippen. She pursued a music-hall career and was active in […]

1 book

Benjamin Tallmadge was a Continental Army cavalry officer who became George Washington’s principal organiser of military intelligence during the American Revolutionary War. He supervised the Culper […]

1 book

1773–1811

Bernard Dubourdieu was a French naval officer who served in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and became an aggressive commander in the Adriatic. From bases in […]

1 series · 1 book

1261–1331

Bernard Gui was a Dominican friar, inquisitor and bishop active in southern France during the early fourteenth century. He wrote an influential inquisitorial manual and became […]

1 book

1778–1842

Bernardo O’Higgins was a Chilean independence leader and one of the principal figures in the struggle against Spanish rule in South America. As Supreme Director of […]

1 series · 1 book

1872–1970

Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, mathematician, logician and public campaigner. He helped transform analytic philosophy, co-wrote Principia Mathematica, opposed the First World War at personal […]

1 series · 1 book