Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, was one of the leading personalities of the Middle Ages, and also one of the most controversial. She was beautiful, intelligent and wilful, and in her lifetime there were rumours about her that were not without substance. Her contemporaries were sometimes scandalised by her behaviour. She had been reared in a relaxed and licentious court - where the arts of the troubadours flourished - and was even said to have presdied over the fabled Courts of Love. Eleanor married in turn Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, and was the mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John. She lived to be 82.

Born in 1820, Florence Nightingale was not a likely candidate for a career in nursing. She was the daughter of a wealthy British banker, and her privileged childhood included a private education. She could have married an lived an easy life. But Florence believed God was calling her to be a nurse, and she decided to follow His call. Not long after she completed her training, the Crimean War broke out. Florence organized a band of nurses to hit the front lines and care for the soldiers. Her compassionate spirit and leadership abilities would prove a priceless blessing to those soldiers. Morale skyrocketed as the death rate dropped dramatically. The system of nursing that Florence developed would revolutionize medical care.
PRE-TEEN BIOGRAPHY

All callgirls are depraved and drug-addicted - right? No one with any self respect would ever choose to be a callgirl - right? Wrong. At the age of thirty-five, Jeannette Angell's life took a shocking turn. Her boyfriend emptied their joint bank account and took off, leaving her penniless. Despite her job as a part time university teacher, she was an independent, educated woman on the skids. Then she read a newspaper ad for 'escorts'......

Twelve women, from their 60s to their 90s, talk about their lives, and about being alive today. Each story is different, yet each is a story of hopes and dreams, fears and struggles, and above all, survival