The National Portrait Gallery's "Character Sketches" is a series of compact guides devoted to literary, artistic and historical personalities, circles and themes. Each volume examines the lives, achievements and writing of a well known group of people using images and text.

The books contain a series of illuminating portraits in a variety of media, all selected from the National Portrait Gallery's unique and diverse collection. The illustrations are accompanied by quotations from the worlds of the people featured, as well as contemporary descriptions and anecdotes, making every volume comprehensive and invaluable reading.

Each title is selected and written by a well-known specialist, with introductions that give a comprehensive account of the lives featured from a fresh critical perspective. Journals, letters, diaries, fragments of quotations from poems are all used to build portraits with words as well as images.

The compact and accessible format, substantial and authoritative content, and modest selling price make these guides essential for students and general readers alike, as well as ideal gift purchases.