DEFIANCE, the life and choices of Lady Anne Barnard

396pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, London, 2016

A biography of Lady Anne Barnard (1750-1825). Stephen Taylor was given access to Lady Anne Barnard's private papers, including six volumes of unpublished memoirs.

Born in Scotland, she married Andrew Barnard and in 1797 accompanied him when he was appointed colonial secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, which was then under British military occupation. Lady Anne remained at the Cape until January 1802. Her letters and her diaries of travels into the interior became an important source of information about the people, events and social life of the time.Stephen Taylor is a former foreign correspondent for The Times. He is also the author of "The Mighty Nimrod, a life of Frederick Courteney Selous" and "The Caliban Shore, the fate of the Grosvenor castaways". He lives in Berkshire.