In all honesty, my initial reaction to this book involved a bit of eye-rolling. 'Sure' I thought. 'We need MORE books about the great deeds of men in the past.' But I liked the illustration style, it was a short read, and I wanted to learn something new about history so I requested it anyway. I'm actually a little bit glad I did! It certainly did what it said on the tin, and that was a little aggravating. I'd heard of MOST of the people talked about in this book and it was very male-orientated.

One thing it did do though? Turned the idea of what a 'notable deed' was on it's head. When I hear about great men of history, all I hear about is battles and conquests, or great inventions. This book focused solely on kindness, emotion and battling for humanity as a whole. I might have heard of most of the names, but I still learn a lot about historical figures I've heard of because of things they've done that aren't so famous. Leonardo Da Vinci is not in here because he painted the Mona Lisa. David Attenborough not because he's a wildlife presenter. They all have real acts of kindness in common and I enjoyed reading about how these famous figures, historical or contemporary, have made such a compassionate contribution to our world.