Deborah Cadbury

Assault on the Male (1994), was a BBC documentary directed and produced by Cadbury, exploring the potential effect chemicals mimicking the female sex hormone oestrogen, by-products of industrial and consumer waste, were having on male humans and animals. Researchers interviewed in the film from the United States, Britain and Denmark linked these chemicals to declining sperm counts and sex mutations (e.g. abnormalities in alligator penises in Lake Apopka, Florida, testicular deformities in young boys in Scotland).[16][17] The documentary, produced in association with the Discovery Channel, received an Emmy award.[6]

Dreams of Iron and Steel: Seven Wonders of the Nineteenth Century, from the building of the London Sewers to the Panama Canal is the companion book to this documentary.

In 2005 she produced "Space Race" an award-winning Drama, the first BBC co-production between Russia and America.

Space Race: The Battle to Rule the Heavens is the companion book to this documentary.[18]

Altering Eden: The Feminization of Nature (1997) explores further the themes introduced in Cadbury's film Assault on the Male regarding the effects of "a variety of man-made oestrogens, in chemicals, plastics, pesticides and medicines" on the environment and, particularly, their potential harm to "wildlife and human sexuality and reproductive capacity."[6][19] In the book, Cadbury details interviews she conducted with scientists around the world and outlines the process of scientific investigation into how chemicals such as DDT,[6][20] PCBs, alkyl phenols, bi-phenols, phthalates, and dioxins[19] may be contributing to phenomenon such as increased breast cancer rates, decreased sperm counts, and abnormalities in male genital development whose full impact "has yet to be realized."[21] However, scientists in the book caution that more evidence is needed to confirm the exact causes and effects of the phenomenon being observed. In their estimation, it is too early in the process to make definitive statements as to the dangers exposure to these chemicals have and at what levels cause risk to humans and wildlife.[19]

In The Dinosaur Hunters, (2000), Cadbury examines the lives and discoveries of early nineteenth century fossil hunters. She starts with Mary Anning, who, at age 13, is credited with "uncovering the first whole fossil skeleton of an unknown creature" (later identified as an ichthyosaur).[10] Cadbury also follows the careers of William Buckland, Gideon Mantell, and rival Richard Owen. Though Owen was recognized at the time for discovering the dinosaur, it was likely that Mantell's meticulous work in the field contributed greatly to Owen's ability to "prove a distinct genus of creatures".[10][22] The book was turned into a film with the same name.[23]

Dreams of Iron and Steel: Seven Wonders of the Nineteenth Century, from the building of the London Sewers to the Panama Canal (2003), is Cadbury's bestselling[24] book focusing on seven "heroic" projects that "left the world transformed in almost every way possible": Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Eastern, Robert Stevenson's Bell Rock Lighthouse, Washington Roebling's Brooklyn Bridge, the London sewers, the American transcontinental railroad, the Panama Canal, and the Hoover Dam (which, critics point out, was built starting in 1931, so was not a wonder of the nineteenth century).[25][26]

"Each wonder illustrates the swiftly moving frontiers of technology and serves as a unique moment, a marker for what was known at the time. Taken together, the wonders illustrate progress by charting the frontiers of industrial knowledge and expertise...The changes are not linear; history is not about a smooth, even progression. There are enormous bursts of creative endeavor and change that reach out in unexpected directions until what was once barely possible becomes routine."

— Deborah Cadbury[25]

The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (2003) tracks the life, and subsequent death in 1795, of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's son and heir, the Dauphin, Louis-Charles.[27] The family was forced to leave Versailles during the storming of the palace and were imprisoned in the Tuileries. The Dauphin was separated from his parents and left to die in a prison cell, though it was rumored the child was somehow secretly saved and another child died in his place.[27] At the request of Dutch historian Hans Petrie, genetic testing was conducted by Jean-Jacques Cassiman, head of molecular diagnostics at the Center for Human Genetics in Belgium to determine whether the child's heart (which had been preserved) and hair from Marie Antoinette's sister would be a familial match.[27] The scientific testing put to rest any claims of imposters; the DNA strands were found to be identical.[28] One reviewer wrote: "Emotionally gripping and beautifully constructed, this is history, science and gothic horror in one."[29] The book is to be developed as a film by Lynda La Plante.

"Chocolate Wars" starts with a brief history of early 19th century England when Quakers owned such companies as Wedgwood, Clarks, Bryant and May's, Huntley and Palmers and "helped shape the course of the Industrial Revolution" with a focus on product quality and wealth creation that funded social projects.[12][30] It then focuses on the expansion of the chocolate business as new products were developed with Cadbury, Fry, Rowntree, Van Houten, Lindt, Nestlé, and Hershey all competing for global market shares.[30][31] Despite its philanthropic roots, the Cadbury company itself (founded by the author's distant relatives, George and Richard Cadbury)[31] is eventually taken over by Kraft.[30] Chocolate Wars was second on The Christian Science Monitor's 2010 list of best nonfiction books.[32]

Princes at War: The Bitter Battle Inside Britain's Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII tells the story of the interlocked and conflicted lives of King George V's four surviving sons, the Duke of Windsor, King George VI, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Duke of Kent during the abdication crisis and later on during World War II.[14] The story focuses, primarily, on the two oldest brothers, Edward VIII, who, purportedly betrayed his royal duty by "insisting on his right to marry" Wallis Simpson, and George VI, who by his actions was forced to take up the responsibilities of acting monarchy.[33] Cadbury's book "combines family drama against the backdrop of the war"[34][35] which results in a telling of events "with deep sympathy to George VI".[33] Cadbury vilifies Edward VIII[34] and leaves open the question as to how close the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were to certain members of the Nazi regime.[34]