Portraits

Our writers profile individuals, some of them overlooked, and explore how they shaped the world as we know it.

The Fall of Robespierre in the Convention on 27 July 1794

Jean Denis, Comte Lanjuinais – fearless opponent of The Terror

In the tumult of revolutionary France, Comte Lanjuinais risked his life by defying the Jacobins.

Jenny McCartney September 2, 2020

Amanda McKittrick Ros – romance unbounded

Admired in her day but now largely forgotten, Amanda McKittrick Ros, 'an Elizabethan born out of her time', according to Aldous Huxley, deserves revisiting.

Andrew Wilton July 17, 2020

Claude Mellan / CC0

Joseph Leclerc du Tremblay – the original éminence grise

Known under his religious name as Father Joseph, François du Tremblay was the mentor, ally and trusted agent of Cardinal de Richelieu, at a time when he dominated European politics..

Gerald Warner July 9, 2020

GRASSE;FRANCE - OCTOBER 18: American writer Frederic Prokosch (1908-1989) poses at home in Grasse,France on the 18th of October 1987.

Frederic Prokosch — freedom in fiction

Prokosch invented a role for the melancholic ingénue before it became fashionable.

Kenneth Weisbrode July 2, 2020

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leaves Number 10 Downing Street to make his statement in the House of Commons on the capitulation of France during World War Two. Behind him is Parliamentary Private Secretary Brendan Bracken (1901-1958).

Brendan Bracken – ‘more Churchillian than Churchill’

Churchill's faithful and most trusted political advisor was indispensable to the British war effort.

Andrew Roberts June 25, 2020

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