History hero

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

The Library My history hero: Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

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)

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

My history hero: Angela Burdett-Coutts

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

My history hero: Aled Jones chooses Freddie Mercury (1946–91)

Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

Second World War

My history hero: Krystyna Skarbek

Designer duo, husband and wife Robin and Lucienne Day, 1955. The pair “were perhaps the greatest British man and wife design team there has ever been”, says Wayne Hemingway. (Photo by Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo)

My history hero: Robin Day (1915–2010) and Lucienne Day (1917–2010)

Charlie Chaplin, in a still from his 1936 film 'Modern Times’. (Photo by American Stock/Getty Images)

My history hero: Charlie Chaplin

Winston Churchill, 1941. (Photo by War Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)

Second World War

My history hero: Winston Churchill (1874–1965)

American novelist John Updike

My history hero: John Updike (1932-2009)

Field Marshal Bill Slim

My history hero: Field Marshal Bill Slim (1891-1970)

A portrait of Charles Dickens. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

My history hero: Charles Dickens

"She had the vision of women leading lives every bit as full as any man," says Jeremy Corbyn of Mary Wollstonecraft. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

My history hero: Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97)

Gertrude Bell. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

My history hero: Gertrude Bell (1868–1926)

Bob Marley performs live on stage with the Wailers in Holland

My history hero: Bob Marley (1945–81)

Italian writer Primo Levi sitting at a desk in his study. Turin, 1981. (Photo by Sergio del GrandeMondadori PortfolioMondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Second World War

My history hero: Primo Levi (1919–87)