This volume, the first DNB twentieth-century supplement to span only five years, includes biographies of 380 distinguished men and women who died between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 1985. As in previous volumes, the entrants form a distinguished roll-call of persons prominent in many
fields. Most are British citizens, but a few subsequently took other nationalities, and several never became British citizens though they spent most of their lives in Britain. The lives of some eminent Commonwealth citizens, such as Indira Gandhi, are also recorded. Among those represented are
spies Anthony Blunt and Donald Maclean; actors Richard Burton, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Dame Flora Robson; writer Robert Graves, novelist A.J. Cronin, and poets Philip Larkin and John Betjeman; historian Michael Wallace-Hadrill; conductor Sir Adrian Boult, composer Sir William Walton, and singer
Billy Fury; and Sir Martin Ryle, the radio astronomer. Written by people who knew their subjects personally, this volume joins biographical fact with private knowledge and personal anecdote, resulting in a rich resource of interest to historians and general readers alike.
