Sports Calendar

7. Sir Charles Napier

Napier’s statue stands in Trafalgar Square, but Ken Livingstone once said that not one in a thousand knew who he was. Complex and interesting, Napier was a fierce fighter, but also a compassionate man. As Governor of Sindh, Napier abolished ‘suttee’, the practice of burning widows alive on their husbands’ pyres. He also arranged for Gurkha troops from Nepal to receive the same pay as Sepoys and was reprimanded for the waste of money.

"The nobleness of the Sepoy army, and the advantages which it enjoys, are known to the world," Sir Charles Napier, 1850

8. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton

The archetypal Victorian scholar-adventurer, Burton was a soldier, a spy, a tinker, a surveyor, a doctor, an explorer, a naturalist and a superb fencer. As an undercover agent, he was instrumental in provinces of India coming under British control, playing what Kipling called ‘The Great Game’ with skill and ruthlessness. In recent times, Burton was one of the inspirations of Harry Flashman in the books by MacDonald Fraser.

"One of the most remarkable and cosmopolitan, and at the same time, most scholarly, explorers of our time." Obituary of Sir Richard Burton, 1890

9. Garnet Wolseley

Wolseley was one of the great Victorian soldiers. He began with no funds or influence, so decided to make his way with suicidal bravery instead. His meteoric rise through the army ranks began when he led not one but two ‘Forlorn Hopes’ against a well-fortified position. He went on to fight in India, Burma, China, Russia and Canada and even took leave to observe the American Civil War. For decades afterwards, ‘all Sir Garnet’ meant well-planned and well-organised.

"Grievously wounded and lying helpless on his back, Wolseley waved his sword and oheered his men on to the assault," The adventures of Garnet Wolseley, 1879

10. Sir Francis Drake

As much a pirate as Henry Morgan, Drake always managed to go about his business with royal approval. He brought back vast fortunes from Spanish South America – money Queen Elizabeth I used to form the British East India Company.

"Sir Francis Drake not only rendered signal services to England as the most daring commander of the fleet, but also signal service to Europe by the introduction of the potato," letter to The Times, 1882

Taken from The Dangerous Book of Heroes by Conn Iggulden and David Iggulden, (HarperCollins, £20)

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