People that has changed our lives
The revised Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), which costs US$11,000 / -, has taken 12 years to update. Among its covers are murderers and ministers, royals and rockers. Oxford University Press Projects Director Robert Faber said: "These people had an impact. They seized the public imagination and contributed to debate". The dictionary is a revised version of the original book founded in 1882 by Leslie Stephen, father of author Virginia Woolf. Dictionary editor Professor Brian Harrison said: "It is a warts and all article, as are all our portraits."
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
With more that 50,000 entries, sitting alongside the famous like Queen Victoria, who reigned England for 64 years, and four times British Premier William Gladstone, the outrageous Punk Rock Group Sex Pistol's Sid Vicious and Queenīs flamboyant star Freddie Mercury. An article on Princess Diana details her achievements, faults and affairs. Toddler James Bulger, killed by two boys of 10 in 1993, is included because his death had deep repercussions on British society. Also included is the murdered TV presenter Jill Dando.
Denying he had dumbed down the book by including Linda McCartney, Professor Harrison said: "She was a very important cultural figure in her own right. "The pride of the dictionary is that it has small as well as large people in it". Other entries are Sir Charles Ischam, who introduced the garden gnome to Britain, and army reservist Neville Chamberlain who invented snooker.
Among the earliest new subjects are Pytheas, the 4th century BC navigator and the first Greek to describe Britain, Julius Caesar who invaded Britain in 55BC, and the emperor Hadrian who oversaw the 120AD wall which carries his name. There are legendary and historical figures such as Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, and the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Not all are British-born - composer George Frederick Handel, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud get a mention as they influenced society while living here.
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