Main content

Antonia Fraser

Lady Antonia Fraser chooses The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

Fact title Fact data
Historian
Books include Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832, Marie Antoinette, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and Must you Go? My Life with Harold Pinter

The Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner

Lady Antonia Fraser chooses an oil painting by J.M.W. Turner, full title The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up (1839), depicting a ship that played a crucial part in the Battle of Trafalgar. Presented by Mark Lawson.

On display at the National Gallery in London.

From the Archive

The Painting

Charles Saumarez Smith and Louise Govier of the National Gallery on the genesis of Turner’s masterpiece.

From Fighting Temeraire 29 Dec 2005 on Radio 4

The Battle of Trafalgar

Historian Adam Lambert and Graeme Fife uncover HMS Temeraire’s role in the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805.

From Fighting Temeraire 29 Dec 2005 on Radio 4 

Writing History

Lady Antonia Fraser and fellow historian Margaret MacMillan discuss the intricacies of writing history.

The Poem

A reading of Sir Henry Newbolt's rousing poem The Fighting Temeraire.

From Poetry Please 08 Jan 1990

Related Links