Among works on women heroes of the Old Testament, Deborah is discussed in Micke Bal, Murder and Difference: Gender, Genre and Scholarship in Sisera’s Death (Bloomington, 1988), and in L. L. Bronner, “Valorized or Vilified? The Women of Judges in Midrashic Sources,” in A Feminist Companion to the Book of Judges, ed. Athalya Brenner (Sheffield, 1993). For Samson, see the writings of J. Cheryl Exum, “Aspects of Symmetry and Balance in the Samson Saga,” in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 19 (1981) and “The Theological Dimensions of the Samson Saga,” in Vetus Testamentum 33 (1983). Good annotated editions of Judges are R. G. Boling, Judges, The Anchor Bible (New York, 1975) and J. A. Soggin, Judges: The Old Testament Library (Philadelphia, 1981). The Anchor Bible has a good volume on Judith by C. A. Moore, and J. C. Vanderkam has edited a set of essays on her: No One Spoke Ill of Her (Atlanta, 1992).
For Alexander there is a bibliography in volume 6 of the Cambridge Ancient History, pp. 529ff. The best modern life is by Lane Poole, but I also recommend G. T. Griffith (ed.), Alexander the Great: The Main Problems (London, 1965). For Caesar see J. P. V. D. Balsdon, Julius Caesar (London, 1967), but Mommsen, History of Rome (Eng. trans. 1895), vols. 4–5, is still valuable. I also recommend the English translation by David McLintock of Christian Meier’s Julius Caesar (London, 2004).
For Boudica, the best modern biography is Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin, Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen (London, 2005), but M. J. Trow, Boudica: The Warrior Queen (Stroud, 2003) is also useful. For Joan of Arc, the most valuable source is the record of the Procès de condamnation et de réhabilitation, ed. Jules Quichevat, 5 vols. (Paris, 1861), and a modern edition by P. Duparc, 5 vols. (Paris, 1977–1988). There is an excellent volume on Joan of Arc by Vita Sackville-West, first published in 1936; I have used the 2004 edition. Modern biographies include those by the French scholar R. Pernond (trans. 1961) and, in English, by Lucie Smith (1976), Warner (1981) and Barstow (1986).
For the Tudor and Jacobean heroes, the best modern life of Sir Thomas More I know is by Richard Marius (New York, 1984). Lady Jane Grey’s Letters were edited by D. Geary (Ilfracombe, 1951); there is an old, but good, Life by R. P. B. Davey (London, 1909). N. H. Nicolas edited The Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey (London, 1825). For Elizabeth I, see the many works of J. E. Neale, and my Elizabeth: A Study in Power and Intellect (first published London, 1974). On Ralegh, see A. L. Rowse, Ralegh and the Throckmortons (London, 1962) and Robert Lacey, Sir Walter Ralegh (London, 1973). Antonia Fraser, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1991 edition) is still the best life of Mary.
For Washington there is a famous seven-volume biography by Douglas Southall Freeman (New York, 1948–1954), with a one-volume condensation by Richard Harwell (1968). The best recent biography are the two large volumes by Harrison Clark, All Cloudless Glory: The Life of George Washington (Washington, D.C., 1996). For brevity, see my Washington: The Founding Father (New York, 2005). For Nelson, a good modern life is Edgar Vincent’s Nelson: Love and Fame (London, 2003). Also excellent is Christopher Hibbert, Nelson: A Personal History (London, 1995). The best life of Wellington is by Elizabeth Longford in two volumes (London, 1969–1972). I also recommend the essay by John Keegan in his book The Maskof Command (London, 1987) and E. A. Smith’s Wellington and the Arbuthnots (Stroud, 1994). Wellington’s Conversations with Stanhope is available in many editions.
Jane Welsh Carlyle is best studied through her letters. Indispensable is K. J. Fielding and D. R. Sorensen, Jane Carlyle: Newly Selected Letters (Aldershot, 2004); the complete edition of the letters by both Carlyles is the huge project conducted by Edinburgh and Duke University, North Carolina, of which thirty-four volumes have so far been published, carrying the story up to December 1858. A recent life of Carlyle is Simon Heffer, Moral Desperado (London, 1995). An indispensable book on Dickinson is Alfred Habegger: My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001).
Of modern biographies of Lincoln the one I recommend is David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York, 1995). But I also like the two-volume Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings, published in the Classics of America Library (New York, 1992). Valuable is Gary Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg (New York, 1992). For contrast, William C. Davis, Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour (New York, 1991) is instructive. For Robert E. Lee, the best modern biography is Emory M. Thomas, Robert E. Lee: A Biography (New York, 1995).
For Wittgenstein, the best biography is Roy Monk, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius (London, 1990). There are many memoirs of him by colleagues and pupils; indeed I have looked through more than a hundred books on this man. A good study is W. W. Bartley III, Wittgenstein (London, 1986 edition) and a racy monograph is David Edmonds and John Eidinow, Wittgenstein’s Poker (London, 2001) about his famous row with Karl Popper. Anthony Kenny has edited The Wittgenstein Reader (Oxford, 1994), and there is an amusing picture book by John Heaton and Judy Groves, Wittgenstein for Beginners (Cambridge, 1994).
For Churchill it is necessary to master the eight-volume biography begun by his son Randolph but written very largely by Martin Gilbert. This is accompanied by innumerable companion volumes giving the full texts of letters and papers from the Churchill archives. De Gaulle’s Memoirs are better reading and no less mystifying than any of the many biographies of him.
Mae West has the benefit of an excellent biography of her, Simon Louvish, Mae West: It Ain’t No Sin (London, 2005), based on her extensive personal archives. There is, alas, no equivalent life of Marilyn Monroe, and I have had to rely on ephemeral screen biographies, clippings, and personal reminiscences of those who knew her.
Ronald Reagan has so far benefited from one first-class biography, Lou Cannon, The Role of a Lifetime (New York, 1991). There is no equivalent for Margaret Thatcher, since the official life by Charles Moore will not be published until after her death. I have relied on my own archive, including diaries, letters and memories. For Pope John Paul II see my study, John Paul II and the Catholic Restoration (New York, 1982). His encyclicals, covering a vast range of subjects, are the best entry into his mind and faith.