None

In his account of four characters, each of whose importance was global, each of them, in their different ways, 'monsters', Piers Brendon writes wittily, sharply and succinctly - and brilliantly illuminates an age. His cast is as follows- Lord Northcliffe, the creator of modern journalism; Arthur Balfour, at the centre of the British political stage for half a century, and inspirer of the Balfour Declaration which changed the face of the Middle East; Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the Suffragettes, whose personal gentility contrasted so oddly with her violent activities; and Baden-Powell, the Boy Scout who never really grew up, but who created a movement that spread to almost every country in the world. Piers Brendon maintains that the Edwardian era has been obfuscated by huge biographies. With four shafts of superb irony he penetrates the mists. 'Dr Piers Brendon is a courageous and independent man, and this book is notable not only for its own merits, which are considerable, but as a sign of liberation for future biographical writers. The message is this. Biographies have been getting longer, and can, without loss, with positive gain, become shorter- The book leaves one with two hopes. One, that Brendon will write more like it, two, that other biographers will start examining his model.' C. P. Snow'Supremely readable and entertaining.' Robert Blake'Piers Brendon's brilliant pen portraits of four famous figures of the Edwardian age- Here in sharp focus is all you ever wanted to know about them. Hilarious and sometimes not a little alarming.' Robert Morley, Evening News