Helen Keller was an American writer and activist. Having lost her sight and hearing at just 19 months old, she later learned how to speak, read and write. She became a prolific author and campaigner for blind and deaf people, women’s suffrage and world peace. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon Johnson. Her ashes were interred at Washington National Cathedral with long-time companions Anne Sullivan and Polly Thomson.

When did you first hear about Keller?

It was when I was eight or nine years old, growing up in Canada, and I borrowed a book about her from my local library. I was fascinated to learn how a teacher, Anne Sullivan, was able to connect with this deaf and blind child, and to teach her the basics of language – spelling out words such as ‘water’ on her hands – which unlocked a whole new world for her. I was also struck by the fact that Helen didn’t just go on to live a long life but became an advocate for people with disabilities, as well as a speaker and author.

What kind of woman was she?

She was one of five children born to a Confederate captain-turned editor, once part of Alabama’s slave-owning elite. After being struck deaf and blind as a baby, Helen initially got by using simple sign language to communicate. She learned to rely on taste, smell and touch, using her hands to read people’s lips. Despite never being able to speak as clearly as she might have liked (something she always regretted), she became a public speaker, though her words were translated for her audience by one of her constant companions – first Anne Sullivan, later Polly Thomson.

• Read more | 9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Helen Keller

What made her a hero?

The incredible tenacity and resilience she showed in overcoming her disabilities. After learning to read and write, she thrived at school and graduated from university – one of very few women then undertaking higher education. Most impressively of all, she sought to use the power of language to change the world, becoming a powerful advocate for women’s suffrage and disability rights, among other issues. She helped transform perceptions of what it was to be deaf and blind at a time when people with such disabilities were often placed in asylums and distanced from society.

What was her finest hour?

First, her campaigning, which helped lead to improvements in the lives of people with disabilities. Second, her role in nurturing the American Foundation for the Blind, which she supported for the rest of her life.

Can you see any parallels between her life and yours?

The Confederation of British Industry, like many organisations, has had its ups and downs. And though I’ve never had to face the sort of adversity that Helen did, I’ve been inspired by her resilience and persistence, and have even used her quotes in speeches. Like her, I’m naturally an optimist at heart. Many of the things she said still resonate with me today – for instance: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

What would you ask Keller if you could meet her?

I’d love to get her take on today’s world, and find out how she thought we could best advocate for change on behalf of the less advantaged.

Rain Newton-Smith has been the chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry since 2023, and was its chief economist 2014–23

This article was first published in the December 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

Born in Spain, Inés Suárez participated in the conquest of Chile with her lover, Pedro de Valdivia, and defended the new settlement they founded, Santiago, from an attack by the Indigenous Mapuche people. She subsequently became a symbol of the Chilean woman standing up to authority, and has been immortalised in historical novels including Allende’s Inés of My Soul (2006), inspiration for the Spanish-Chilean television drama of the same name.

When did you first hear about Suárez?

When I was studying Chilean history – though she is hardly mentioned in most Chilean history books, despite being the only Spanish woman to accompany 110 Conquistadors to what was then considered the end of the world. There is no monument erected in her memory.

What kind of woman was she?

She came from a humble family in Spain, and was originally a seamstress. Her hair was described as “flaming”, and she never had children. Interestingly, there’s no record of her suffering any accident or illness, so she must have been incredibly strong. She also had the gift of finding water, and helped save the Conquistador army when crossing the Atacama Desert. While the other Spaniards were fighting, looking for gold and raping Indigenous women, she was collecting chickens and cows, and buying land. She became the second-richest person in the country, the envy of the Conquistador captains. Unlike those men, who all died in their thirties or forties, she lived to her seventies.

• Read more | Two worlds collide: Spanish conquistadors and Aztecs

What made her a hero?

She defied everyone and did things her way, challenging the church and the world. She was unstoppable, and I love that. Women were not allowed to accompany Conquistadors unless joining a husband – and only with the permission of the king and the church. The Conquistador men didn’t feel that they needed their wives, because they were raping Indigenous women. In contrast, Inés went to Chile for love, not in search of gold or glory.

What was her finest hour?

Saving Santiago – today the national capital, but then just a bunch of shacks – from an attack by 10,000 Indigenous Mapuche people. Inés took charge of the defence, and the battle was brutal. Mapuche chieftains were taken prisoner – and she had them decapitated, then threw the heads over the city defences, persuading their people to back away. The fact that a woman could do such a thing is shocking to us now, but I can’t help but admire her strength. She was also capable of showing great compassion, though.

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about her?

She enslaved Indigenous people, which I find horrifying – but you can’t judge her by the standards of today.

Can you see any parallels between her life and your own?

Not really. I’m a passionate woman, and my protagonists are strong women, but I never fought off 10,000 attackers!

What would you ask Inés Suárez if you could meet her now?

I’d like to have met her when she was an old woman, and asked her if she had had a happy life.

Isabel Allende is a Chilean American author whose books have sold 88 million copies worldwide. Her latest novel is My Name is Emilia del Valle (Bloomsbury, 2025)

This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

Rita Levi-Montalcini was a renowned neurobiologist who was a joint winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of nerve growth factor. Born in Turin to Italian Jewish parents, her early career was hindered by Mussolini’s Racial Laws and she had to go into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Italy. In 1992, she established a foundation to boost girls’ science education in Africa, and 10 years later she set up the European Brain Research Institute.

When did you first hear about Rita Levi-Montalcini?

When I had to help my daughter find an inspirational woman in history for a school research project. Rita, who achieved such amazing things against the odds, really struck a chord with me and my daughter. Her life story also provides a new lens on a fascinating period in history.

What kind of woman was she?

Rita was a strong, determined, intelligent woman, but was born in the early 20th century – still a sexist time. Initially wanting to be a writer, she went into medicine after a close family friend died of stomach cancer. She was an outstanding student but, as a Jew in Fascist Italy, she was barred from working at a university.

Headstrong Rita set up a laboratory in her bedroom instead. When the Germans invaded Italy in 1943, she was hidden by non-Jewish Italians to save her from a concentration or death camp, and continued her research in an ‘underground’ laboratory.

What made her a hero?

First and foremost, her medical research, which is key to our understanding of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. She’s one of only 25 women to have won a Nobel prize for science, so that was a massive triumph. I also love the fact that, despite the difficulties she faced, Rita never gave up.

She always kept hope alive – continuing with her scientific research until she died, aged 103. Another thing I admire is the way she championed both the young and the elderly. Her motto was “add life to your years” – make the best of things and live life to the fullest!

What was her finest hour?

I don’t think there was any one finest hour. Instead, I’d argue that it was a life well lived – she never stopped trying to make the world a better place. The most impressive people I talk to as a journalist are not necessarily political leaders or celebrities but those who, like Rita, break down barriers and try to fight prejudice.

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about her?

Rita was embroiled in a funding scandal for a medical drug later in life. I think it’s important to know when a public figure messes up – but do you ‘cancel’ the life of someone who sought to make the world better?

That said, I do find it rather troubling that she credited her success in part to eating one meal a day and not having a life partner – I wouldn’t want my daughters to grow up thinking a woman had to live her life that way to be successful.

What would you ask her if you could meet her?

I’d invite her to join me and another hero of mine, Al-‘Ijliyyah [the 10th-century Muslim astronomer and astrolabe maker credited with creating the foundations of modern GPS navigation systems] around the dinner table – along with other innovating women. I’m sure it would make for a lively, thought-provoking discussion.

Katya Adler has been the BBC’s Europe editor since 2014. She has twice been named Broadcast Journalist of the Year.

This article was first published in the October 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

Tommy Flowers was a British engineer with the Post Office. He’s best known for designing and building Colossus, the world’s first programmable electronic computer, which helped decrypt German messages during the Second World War. After the end of the conflict, Flowers continued to work for the Post Office, where he was involved in developing ERNIE, the random number generator used to pick Premium Bond winners.

When did you first hear about Flowers?

I had the privilege of working as a member of his team (on the first electronic telephone exchange, and later ERNIE) at the Post Office Research Station in Dollis Hill in the 1950s, when it was one of the leading research institutions in the world. However, he was a very senior figure in the organisation so my interaction with him was limited. I understood that he’d done something remarkable during the war, but the Official Secrets Act was taken very seriously in those days, and the story of Colossus didn’t really emerge until the 1970s.

What kind of man was he?

He was born in London’s East End, the son of a bricklayer and the grandson of a charlady. Growing up, money was tight and he was taught to be frugal. While doing an engineering apprenticeship, he took evening classes, gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to have a distinguished career. I always found him polite, unassuming, and never sexist.

What made him a hero?

Because he changed the course of history, not once but twice. First, with his Colossus computer, which decrypted a huge number of high-level German messages during the Second World War, part of work estimated to have curtailed the conflict by up to two years. Second, with his pioneering work on early computers that paved the way for the modern digital world. He was also inspirational to me personally, as the sort of manager I wanted to become: he listened to his staff, got quality work out of them and attracted great loyalty. He was the nearest thing to a mentor to me.

What was his finest hour?

Designing and building the Colossus computer at Bletchley Park in 1943–44. The Mark I Colossus processed information five times faster than Bletchley’s previous code-breaking system. Tommy’s Mark II Colossus, which began operation on 1 June 1944, decrypted a German message confirming that Hitler, believing that preparations for landings in Normandy were a feint, wanted no extra troops sent there. That helped convince Eisenhower to go ahead with the D-Day landings on 6 June.

Can you see any parallels between his life and your own?

We both came from modest beginnings, and both studied part-time in the evenings to get our degrees at London University – his was in engineering, mine in mathematics.

What would you ask Flowers if you could meet him now?

I’d like to ask how he felt about the ridiculous lack of recognition he received in his lifetime. He was given an MBE and a couple of honorary doctorates, but that was pretty small fry. I don’t know how many people appreciate the true significance of his wartime work.

The late Dame Stephanie Shirley CH was a tech pioneer and philanthropist who came to Britain via the Kindertransport in 1939. Her memoir, Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story (Penguin), is available in paperback. 

This article was first published in the September 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

Lorenzo Da Ponte was an opera librettist, poet and Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for a string of operas by various composers, including three of Mozart’s best-known works: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787) and Così fan tutte (1790). After a spell living in England, he became a professor at Columbia University in New York City.

When did you first hear about Ponte?

I discovered Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro when I was 18, and instantly fell in love with it. When I got to know the libretto in English, I realised just how funny and clever it was, and thought: “I wonder who wrote it?” That’s when I discovered Lorenzo Da Ponte.

What kind of man was he?

He was full of life and literature, and liked adventure and misadventure. Born a Jew, he became a Christian priest after his father converted to Roman Catholicism. He had several children, took a mistress and was found guilty of running a brothel. He was friends with Casanova as well as working with Mozart. He was a grocer in London before running away to New York City to escape his debts – and became professor of Italian literature at Columbia College (now University). What a life!

• Read more | 10 milestones in the history of western music

What made him a hero?

First, the quality of his work. Librettists sometimes get overlooked; for instance, Burt Bacharach is rightly acclaimed while his lyricist, Hal David, gets rather forgotten, even though they were equal partners. Similarly, Mozart’s great operas wouldn’t be what they are were it not for Da Ponte, who was immensely gifted. Second, his colourful life story. There’s something irrepressible about him that I admire. To me, Da Ponte is a bit of a Cinderella figure, because very few people know of him, whereas everyone knows who Mozart is. I’m intrigued by the way that he hides behind a brighter light [Mozart], even though his life was just as bright in its own way.

What was his finest hour?

His libretto for The Marriage of Figaro – one of the greatest operas of all time. One of the things I admire about his work is its vivid brevity.

Is there anything you don’t particularly admire about him?

I imagine that he was one of those people best enjoyed from a distance of about 20 feet. He certainly wasn’t a man you should marry – I think he was too busy off having adventures to make a faithful and diligent partner.

Can you see any connections between his life and your own?

I once pinched a little bit from The Magic Flute for a Communards album, though nobody noticed. I’m also fascinated by the idea of someone who was both a priest and sensuous.

What would you ask Da Ponte if you could meet him?

Classical music is my first love – though I’m currently obsessed with the rock band The 1975 – so I’d like to know what it was like working with Mozart.

The Reverend Richard Coles is a broadcaster, author, priest and former musician with synth-pop duo The Communards. His novel A Death on Location (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) is out in hardback, ebook and audiobook

This article was first published in the August 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

Billie Holiday, born into poverty in Philadelphia as Eleanora Fagan, was an American jazz and swing singer. In 1939, she recorded the famous protest song ‘Strange Fruit’, lamenting black lynchings. In 1999, Time magazine named the song – also performed by luminaries ranging from Nina Simone to Jeff Buckley – as ‘Best Song of the Century’. After becoming dependent on drugs and alcohol, her health deteriorated. She died from pulmonary oedema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver aged just 44.

When did you first hear about Holiday?

I was studying to be a radiographer in my twenties when a fellow student mentioned Billie. I bought a Billie Holiday record that same day, and I’ve been a fan ever since.

What kind of woman was she?

Some people see her as a victim, hounded by the FBI over her drug use; others prefer to see her as a political activist who sang one of the first songs about a lynching. You have to view her drug and alcohol use in the context of her turbulent childhood.

Her mother was just a teenager when she gave birth to Billie, who was raped as a child, sent to a Catholic reform school for girls and subsequently became a sex worker.

What made her a hero?

Despite her hellish childhood, she had huge strength of character, and went on to achieve great success and critical acclaim. Her voice is a bit Marmite: you either like it or you don’t.

I loved it from the start – it pushed all my buttons – and I wasn’t the only one who was smitten. Frank Sinatra used to go to listen to her sing – and his whole phrasing, which lagged behind the beat, owed a great debt to her melancholic, jazzy vocal style.

What was her finest hour?

Performing ‘Strange Fruit’ – a riposte to racist America that would ring down the years – for the first time at Café Society, New York City’s first integrated nightclub, in 1939. She ended her set with that song and, when she’d finished and everybody began clapping, she just walked off stage. There was no coming back for an encore.

• On the podcast | Black history episodes

Sadly, she was persecuted by the FBI for the rest of her life – the Bureau even tried to arrest her on her deathbed! Following her 1947 arrest and imprisonment for possession of narcotics, her New York ‘Cabaret Card’ was taken away, preventing her from working anywhere in the city that sold alcohol.

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about her?

Her choice of men sucked. She was quite emotionally needy, and most of the men in her life abused her physically, bled her dry financially or were ‘pushers’, keeping her drugged up.

Can you see any parallels between her life and your own?

We were both female singers of colour in times of racial prejudice – Britain in the late 1970s, in my case. I once played her on stage at the Tricycle Theatre, and she also influenced me in wanting to make anti-racist music, albeit in the ska/2-tone style.

What would you ask Holiday if you could meet her?

To sing the jazz classic ‘Fine and Mellow’, lamenting her treatment at the hands of her ‘man’, just for me.

Pauline Black OBE is the singer of ska band The Selecter, who are playing at Glastonbury on 29 June. Her documentary Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story is streaming on Sky Arts, Freeview and NOW.

This article was first published in the July 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

Harry Price was a British ghost-hunter, psychic researcher and author who achieved fame through his investigations into paranormal phenomena and for exposing fraudulent mediums. Renowned for his investigation into Borley Rectory – “the most haunted house in England” – he died of a heart attack at his West Sussex home at the age of 67.

When did you first hear about Price?

I was obsessed by ghosts from an early age. When I came across Price he was already something of a mythical figure, thanks to cases such as the Borley Rectory ‘hauntings’ that loomed large in my childhood.

What kind of man was he?

He had a Walter Mitty quality: he was constantly fictionalising his life and pumping out fake versions of himself – partly, I think, because of his humble background [his father was a travelling salesman]. He lied about where he was born and grew up, and faked archaeological finds and ‘artefacts’ that he’d knocked up in his shed.

• Read more | Danny Robins' paranormal cold cases: my best friend's ghost

What made Price a hero?

I think one should use that word cautiously when talking about Harry, but, for all his flaws, he turned the paranormal into something mainstream and fun, and brought science to the study of the subject. He pretty much invented the concept of the ‘ghost-hunter’, and much of what we associate with ‘the paranormal’ has its roots in his work and the image he cultivated.

He made psychic phenomena into news, and became a tabloid figure in what I think of as the golden age of ghost-hunting. Moreover, alongside Harry Houdini, he made it his mission to unmask fake mediums – the rock stars of the day, making huge money – as charlatans and tricksters.

What was his finest hour?

First, exposing fake mediums who preyed on people’s grief. Second, his detective-style investigations into paranormal occurrences, in particular at the Borley Rectory – though plenty of people will tell you that Harry faked phenomena and dramatised events there. He was simultaneously a showman and a researcher, and sometimes the showman won out.

Is there anything you don’t particularly admire about him?

The duplicitousness and slightly free approach to the truth he brought to the study of the paranormal. But I think his admirable qualities outweigh his less-admirable ones. Incidentally, he was also one of the founders of what became the British Film Institute.

• Read more | 10 terrifying tales from medieval to modern history

Can you see any parallels between his life and yours?

Like him, I believe that we need to listen to those people who’ve had ghostly encounters, and try to make sense of their experiences.

What would you ask him if you could meet his ghost?

That would be wonderful – and would prove that we were both on the right track! I’d like to know if he regretted those occasions when he fluffed the truth and over-dramatised moments in his investigations. The truth should be enough.

Danny Robins presents Uncanny, exploring paranormal and supernatural phenomena, on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer. His live show, Uncanny: Fear of the Dark, will tour the UK from September.

This article was first published in the June 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

In profile

When did you first hear about FitzRoy?

Several years ago, while making a programme about Darwin, because as captain of HMS Beagle, FitzRoy was integral to the story.
He first made a big impression on me because of his prowess as a sailor.

I subsequently read a super novel about him, Harry Thompson’s This Thing of Darkness, which deepened my interest.

What kind of man was he?

He was extraordinarily clever and brave, as well as honourable and chivalrous. He was not your common-or-garden aristocrat: if his fourth great-grandmother had been Charles II’s wife rather than his mistress, he would have been royalty. He was also a brilliant sailor. He was made captain of the Beagle at 23, and was just 26 when he set sail with Darwin.

However, he had bipolar disorder and would fall into black moods. I believe the contradiction – between his literal view of the Bible and the role he played in helping Darwin collect the evidence underpinning On the Origin of Species – gnawed away at him and contributed to his depression.

What made him a hero?

Here was a man of just 23 who sailed a small ship, the Beagle, on landmark voyages, one of which changed our entire perception of human beings’ place in nature. I am equally intrigued by the way this committed Christian struggled to accept the scientific evidence in Darwin’s book, despite his fine mind.

What was FitzRoy’s finest hour?

Firstly, sailing the 90ft long Beagle – which is what the navy used to call a ‘coffin brig’, because it had a reputation for being unseaworthy – around Cape Horn. Secondly, founding what became the Meteorological Office. He invented the term ‘forecast’, and instituted a scientific approach to predicting the weather that saved so many sailors’ lives.

Yet during FitzRoy’s lifetime a lot of boat owners tried to get the office closed down because they didn’t want fishermen to have an excuse for staying in port. Thirdly, I’d highlight his time as governor of New Zealand, where he sought to protect the Maori from unscrupulous settlers who wanted their land. As a result, he was recalled to London.

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about him?

Yes, he had a fairly explosive temper, but nothing else springs to mind.

Can you see any parallels between FitzRoy’s life and your own?

None whatsoever. I’m not the least bit honourable, I’m extraordinarily sceptical of all religions and I’m a dreadful sailor!

Michael Buerk has worked as both a news presenter and a foreign correspondent during his distinguished BBC career. He has hosted BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze since 1990.

This article was first published in the May 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

In profile 

When did you first hear about Sakharov?

While I was studying Russian at university in the late 1980s. I spent half a year in Moscow during the Gorbachev era – in fact, I was in the USSR when Sakharov was elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies, the Soviet Union’s first serious experiment with parliamentary democracy.

What kind of man was he?

He was a brilliant scientist from an intellectual family. He tried to join the Red Army during the Second World War but failed his medical. He then became involved in the Soviet project to design an atomic bomb – he’s been dubbed ‘The father of the hydrogen bomb’.

By the 1960s, though, he’d come to the view that the development of nuclear weapons had created the potential for worldwide destruction, and that the lack of individual freedoms in the Soviet Union also posed a danger to global peace.

• Read more | How have nuclear weapons shaped global politics? 10 key moments in the post-war atomic world

What made him a hero?

Sakharov used his position as a member of the Soviet elite to try to change the system from within, and used his platform to urge Khrushchev and Brezhnev to stop testing nuclear weapons, protect human rights and find ways to peacefully co-exist with the west.

Speaking out came at great personal cost: by the 1970s, he was regarded as a dissident and traitor. He was prevented from collecting his Nobel Peace Prize, and was later arrested and exiled to the closed city of Gorky.

• Read more | The history of the Nobel Prizes

Eventually, though, the courage he displayed paid off. Gorbachev, who was clearly influenced by Sakharov, came to understand the need for more democracy and for co-existence between the two great power blocs. Sadly, things have moved backwards in Russia in recent years.

What was his finest hour?

Probably his initial decision to stand up against a totalitarian system that had lauded him – and to accept the consequences. All of his later influence at home and abroad stemmed from that decision and from the far-sighted views – linking individual rights with global security – which he developed in the 1960s and which remain relevant in Russia today.

Is there anything you don’t particularly admire about him?

No. He led an unblemished private life. His first wife died and his second, Yelena Bonner, was his soulmate in the struggle for freedom; he even went on hunger strike to persuade authorities to allow her to travel abroad for medical treatment.

What would you ask Sakharov if you could meet him?

I’d love to know what he made of east–west relations today, and of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I’d also ask if he had any advice for those Russians who want their country to pursue a different path.

Jamie Coomarasamy is a BBC broadcaster, presenting The World Tonight and Newshour, and was talking to York Membery.

This article was first published in the April 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine

In profile 

When did you first hear about Dickens?

In my childhood. I went to the local library all the time while I was growing up, reading books by Dickens, Shakespeare and Enid Blyton – the ‘classics’. I particularly loved Dickens’ use of words – it’s poetry, really – and the language that he used is the language we use today.

What kind of man was he?

These days we talk about people who are humanitarian, entrepreneurial or philanthropic, and Dickens was all of those. Being from a poor family, he had a sense of where he came from, which made him conscious of the plights and poverty of others, and he wrote about such people in his novels.

• Read more | 7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Charles Dickens and his family home

I think he was also a very thoughtful man, even if he behaved selfishly at times. But that’s human nature: each of us has two sides.

What made him a hero?

Above all, his artistry – the words and the phrasing – and the incredible stories he dreamed up that have engaged so many people over the years. I write songs and music and, while I don’t find it a struggle, it’s not an easy thing to do – unless you’re a born storyteller, as he clearly was.

Moreover, his stories have lasted; they’re as powerful today as the day he wrote them. I subconsciously lean on Dickens because, though I’d never call myself a poet, I try to use words that have meaning and flow. I also admire him for all he did to help those less fortunate than himself.

What was Dickens’ finest hour?

I particularly like Hard Times, because [scenes with school board superintendent] Mr Gradgrind make me think of myself. He tells his class not to daydream – but my whole existence is about daydreaming, as was Dickens’.

It’s how you create: you have to imagine something before you can make it tangible. So many characters in Dickens’ work, like Little Dorrit, have real substance and strength, too.

Is there anything that you don’t admire about him?

The way he treated his wife, Catherine – but people have emotions and can’t always control them, as I wrote in my song ‘The Weakness in Me’. Overall, though, I think he was a good person.

• On the podcast | The dark side of Dickens

Can you see any parallels between his life and your own?

Only in terms of the writing, having that creative streak and making our own way in life.

If you could meet Dickens, what would you ask him?

I’d like to know to what extent the story of Little Dorrit was autobiographical.

Joan Armatrading CBE is an Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her new album is How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean

This article was first published in the March 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine