Sir George Otto Trevelyan

The BBC's UN correspondent, Laura Trevelyan, has just written a book, A Very British Family: The Trevelyans and Their World, which includes sections on Sir George Otto Trevelyan, who was Secretary for Scotland twice - for a few months in 1886 and again from 1892-95. Laura's verdict on her great-grandfather - that he was a mediocre politician but a successful historian - is spot on.

It seems that for years Laura Trevelyan was unaware of her relatives' achievements as politicians and historians, but was prompted to write this book after people kept mentioning her family to her. The book is for sale on amazon.co.uk here and if you're a subscriber to the Spectator you can read Laura Trevelyan's entertaining article on her book here.