Florence Nightingale

Winner of the Elizabeth Longford prize for Historical Biography
Engrossing Claire Tomalin / Superb Sunday Times / A triumph Daily Mail

Whether honoured and admired or criticized and ridiculed, Florence Nightingale has invariably been misrepresented and misunderstood. As the Lady with the Lamp, ministering to the wounded and dying of the Crimean War, she offers an enduring image of sentimental appeal and one that is permanently lodged in our national consciousness. But the awesome scale of her achievements over the course of her 90 years is infinitely more troubling - and inspiring - than this mythical simplification.

From her tireless campaigning and staggering intellectual abilities to her tortured relationship with her sister and her distressing medical condition, this vivid and immensely readable biography draws on a wealth of unpublished material and previously unseen family papers, disentangling the myth from the reality and reinvigorating with new life one of the most iconic figures in modern British history.

Enthralling Guardian

Excellent Spectator

Hugely readable Lancet

Gripping and faultlessObserver, Books of the Year

Remarkable. A subtle, scholarly and immensely readable portrait. Scrupulous, thoughtful and clear-eyed. A masterly achievementFinancial Times

It will not be superseded for generations to comeSunday Telegraph