'Fascinating... A book based on gold-standard research, the kind of thing that puts most popular history writing to shame.' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday
'Certain to be a bestseller, and deservedly so. Rarely have first-class scholarship and first-class storytelling been so effectively combined.' John Adamson, Daily Telegraph
'An absorbing biography ... meticulously researched... scholarly and intriguing.'
Peter Ackroyd, The Times
'A biography that reads as thrillingly as a detective story, and is rich in details and authoritative in its analysis.' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times
'Certain to be a bestseller, and deservedly so. Rarely have first-class scholarship and first-class storytelling been so effectively combined.' John Adamson, Daily Telegraph
'An absorbing biography ... meticulously researched... scholarly and intriguing.'
Peter Ackroyd, The Times
'A biography that reads as thrillingly as a detective story, and is rich in details and authoritative in its analysis.' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times