Exaggerating her beetling monobrow and wispy dark moustache in self-portraits, the artist Frida Kahlo was a female force to be reckoned with, unafraid to pour her heart onto the canvas. Only last autu

Julián Casanova Franco 528pp. Crítica. €22.90. Giles Tremlett El Generalísimo Franco: Power, violence and the quest for greatness 528pp. Bloomsbury. £30. Juan Carlos I, with Laurence Debray Reconcilia

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THE Hollywood star who went on to marry eight times and become an icon of the era was born Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner on February 8, 1920, in Wallace, Idaho. Aged six, Lana moved with her famil

Verdi’s dramatic operas are among the most popular, but grief nearly halted his output and the Italian composer and countryman only returned to creativity after finding solace on his farm, reports Henrietta Bredin

JUDY BUENOANO’S WEB OF DEATH UNRAVELLED AFTER SHE WAS CONVICTED OF MURDERING HER HUSBAND AND SON