Some, like Lady Hester Stanhope and the Hon. Jane Digby, were exiles from 19th-century high society; others were footloose adventurers, like Richard Burton and T.E. Lawrence. There were distinguished literary figures like Vita Sackville-West, Freya Stark and Bruce Chatwin; and notable scholars like Gertrude Bell and Owen Lattimore. Whoever they are, John Ure has found them and brings them all to life here with skill and humour.