History hero

British Artist Ivon Hitchens. (Image by Bridgeman)

My history hero: Chris Packham chooses Ivon Hitchens

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The Endurance, the ship of Ernest Shackleton

My history hero: Ernest Shackleton (d1922)

Herbert Hasler, one of the Cockelshell heroes, seen here at work on his sloop at the Don Fuller boatyard, Bosham, Sussex. 1st March 1966. (Image by Getty)

Second World War

My history hero: Paddy Ashdown chooses ‘Blondie’ Hasler

The "brilliant" Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse in 1935. (Getty Images)

My history hero: Walt Disney (1901-66)

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Politician and novelist Benjamin Disraeli was twice prime minister, and extended suffrage by introducing the 1867 Reform Act. (Photo by Jabez Hughes/Getty Images)

The Library My history hero: Jacob Rees-Mogg chooses Benjamin Disraeli

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Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor visited the US on several occasions, where he was held in such high regard that he was dubbed the 'African Mahler'. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

My history hero: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

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Singer Paul Robeson rehearses at a piano in 1958. He had a unifying outlook, observing that "neither suffering nor compassion is confined to one face." (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

My history hero: Paul Robeson (1898–1976)

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William Beveridge was determined to fight the five "giant evils" of "want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness." (Photo by Hans Wild/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: William Beverage (1879–1963)

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Jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis, shown here in 1969, was central to the story of jazz. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

My history hero: Miles Davis (1926–91)

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Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada. (Photo by Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images)

My history hero: Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

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Welsh Labour politician Aneurin Bevan making a speech on the freedom of the press at a meeting of the National Council of Civil Liberties at Central Hall, Westminster, London, in 1942. (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty Images)

My history hero: Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan (1897–1960)

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English philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts. (Photo by Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

My history hero: Angela Burdett-Coutts

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Freddie Mercury – born Farrokh Bulsara – on stage at Brondby Hallen, Denmark. (Photo by Jorgen Angel/Redferns/Getty Images)

My history hero: Freddie Mercury (1946–91)

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Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

Second World War

My history hero: Krystyna Skarbek

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