In this year’s highly anticipated Massey Lectures, internationally acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan gives her own personal selection of the memorable figures of the past, women and men, who have changed the course of history and even directed the currents of their times.

The actions of Hitler, Stalin and Thatcher had epic, resounding consequences, but there are other ways to shape the course of history: those like Samuel de Champlain, the dreamers, explorers or adventurers who stand out in history for who they were as much as for what they did; or observers like Michel de Montaigne, who kept the notes and diaries that bring the past to life for us.

History’s People is about the important and complex relationship between biography and history, individuals and their times, and the transformative moments that have shaped the world.

Margaret MacMillan is the author of the international bestsellers The War that Ended Peace, Nixon in China and Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World, which won many major awards including the Samuel Johnson Prize and the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize. She is also the author of The Uses and Abuses of History. She sits on the boards of the Mosaic Institute and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. The past provost of Trinity College at the University of Toronto, MacMillan is now the warden of St Anthony's College and a professor at Oxford University.

‘MacMillan is a superb writer who can bring history to life.’ Philadelphia Inquirer

‘[Macmillan] is that wonderful combination—an academic and scholar who writes well, with a marvellous clarity of thought.’ Antony Beevor

‘MacMillan is a master of narrative detail and the telling anecdote.’ Christian Science Monitor

‘Stylish, intelligent, insightful, History’s People cements MacMillan’s reputation for both eminence and elegance.’ Clare Wright

‘[History’s People] continues that mix of accessibility and expertise that’s kept [MacMillan’s] work on bestseller lists.’ Age/Sydney Morning Herald