clear and instructive ... rphans of Empire makes a significant contribution to the history of the Foundling Hospital
Susannah Ottaway, Cultural and Social History
... her honest subjectivity makes this a better book. It has a soul. Orphans of Empire is a fascinating, beautifully written story about an 18th century charity, but also a book that asks difficult questions about welfare that remain relevant today.
Gerard DeGroot, The Times 30/03/2019
Overturns preconceptions ... Orphans of Empire is noteworthy for Berry's meticulous examination of the records that document individual appeals and interventions. Helen Berry has produced a remarkable study, informative and impassioned.
Jenny Uglow, The Times Literary Supplement 15/05/2019
Her well organised, workman-like account concentrates on the 18th century and does an important job of clearing a way through a mass of repetitious detail, while acknowledging how telling and human that detail is. She is particularly good at interweaving a surviving autobiographical account by one foundling, George King, with the records of other lives.
Fiona Sampson, The Spectator 04/04/2019
The history of the Foundling Hospital is well known, but for those coming new to the story Berry's is a fresh and insightful introduction. Her pace is lively and her touch is light ... Helen Berry's book is a welcome addition to a crowded field. It offers an up-to-date and authoritative history of Thomas Coram's hospital that is at its most valuable when focusing on the life stories of the foundlings themselves.
Gerry White, Literary Review 04/04/2019
[Berry's] study is an exemplary piece of objective historical research...
John Pridmore, Church Times 02/08/2019
Orphans of Empire is a super book, nicely produced, with good black & white illustrations, clear endnotes and indexing, and I recommend it.
Mike Patterson, London Historians 08/04/2019
An excellent book ... There is a Foundling Museum at Brunswick Square and to my shame I'd never visited it until the book inspired me to go along...
Peter Gruner, Islington Tribune 31/05/2019
Orphans of Empire is a heartbreaking read that is also absolutely unputdownable. Helen Berry brings the 18th century to glorious life in a way that few historians can match, every book of hers is a treasure.
Dr. Amanda Foreman, FRSA