The Hero

Bestselling author Sebastian Faulks presents a major four-part series on the brilliance of the British novel and its characters. In this episode, Faulks looks at how the hero in literature and ideas of heroism have evolved over the last 300 years, from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to Martin Amis's John Self.

With contributions from Simon Armitage, Brian Keenan, Ruth Rendell, Robert Harris, Boris Johnson and Martin Amis.