When Tony Blair steps down as the British PM"within the next few weeks," he is likely to be succeeded by a historian. At 16, James Gordon Brown (1951- ), the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, entered the University of Edinburgh to study history. He graduated with First Class Honors. Brown remained at Edinburgh for his doctorate, writing a dissertation on The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland, 1918-29. Thereafter, he lectured at Edinburgh and Glasgow College of Technology before his election to Parliament in 1983.

In 1986, Brown published a biography of the Independent Labour Party politician, James Maxton, a major figure in his dissertation. His subsequent books include Where There Is Greed: Margaret Thatcher and the Betrayal of Britain's Future (1989), Fair is Efficient: A Socialist Agenda for Fairness (1994), and Speeches, 1997-2006 (2006). Brown's Courage: Eight Portraits, with sketches of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Edith Cavell, Nelson Mandela, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Aung San Suu Kyi, Cicely Saunders, and Raoul Wallenberg, will be published next month. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.