Great Lives

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Factual: Life Stories

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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Great Lives: Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Hans Christian Andersen

Author of The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes, he was 'a very strange orchid'

Michael Booth picks Hans Christian Andersen with a little help from Michael Rosen, author of many children's books, including We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

Hans Christian Andersen was 'a very strange orchid,' says Michael Booth. 
He was born in 1806 in Denmark, and today is  still famous for so many stories that every child knows, 156 in total. 
His own life is almost as odd as the tales he told. A neurotic hypochondriac, he escaped a terrible childhood and travelled to Copenhagen to make his name. 
Helping to tell the story of his life is Michael Rosen, the author of many books for children including 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'.
Michael Booth is the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia.
And Hans Christian Andersen is the author of The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes


The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde

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