Biography: writers Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

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Book SynopsisFrank Moorhouse was legendary in Australian literary and cultural life, the author of a huge and diverse body of work ? essays, short stories, journalism, scripts, the iconic Edith Trilogy ? an unapologetic activist, intellectual, libertarian and champion of freedom of speech and sexual self determination. Though he lived his life publicly, his private stories have not been shared, the many paths he forged left unexamined, until now.Matthew Lamb shared many a luncheon table with Moorhouse and immersed himself in the archived life and cultural ephemera of Frank? s world. This landmark study, from Moorhouse? s own publisher, the first in a projected two volumes, is the fascinating and comprehensive story of how one of Australia? s most original writers and pioneer of the discontinuous narrative came to be.Fearless, sardonic and utterly dedicated to his creative life, his relationships with friends, other writers and lovers were complex and long-lasting. Lamb shares the strange paths that Frank traversed and gives us a cultural history of the times that shaped Moorhouse and which Moorhouse himself helped to shape.

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Book SynopsisPacked with new evidence, Making Oscar Wilde tells the untold story of a local Irish eccentric who became a global cultural icon. This must-read book dramatizes Oscar Wilde's remarkable rise in Victorian England and post-Civil War America. Michèle Mendelssohn interweaves biography and social history to reveal a life like no other.Trade ReviewMendelssohn's remarkable book focuses on the American year ... it uncovers material missed by lengthier biographies, even Richard Ellmann's, and conveys the excitement of real research and discovery. * John Carey, The Sunday Times *Now that America has come to seem so unsettled and so strange, Michèle Mendelssohn's Making Oscar Wilde help us to become more alarmed. * Colm Tóibín, The Guardian *A retelling of Wilde's American adventure that genuinely makes you rethink vital elements of his life and work ... Mendelssohn's research is prodigious: she has tapped sources previously unavailable to other scholars. * Rachel Cooke, The Observer *An extraordinary new take on Wilde. Even those who claim to know him intimately will be astonished and enthralled by Mendelssohn's fresh perspective on his multifaceted life. * Eleanor Fitzsimons, The Irish Times *A fascinating account of how young Wilde's flair for self-promotion aligned with the birth of celebrity culture during the age of Barnum. * Jane Ciabattari, BBC Culture *A stylish account of [Wilde's] tumultuous rise, fall and resurrection ... a hugely important and enjoyable book. * Mal Rogers, The Irish Post *The story of Wilde's American tour has often been told before; but never like this. [...] Mendelssohn is the first critic to refute the triumphant self-serving spin put on the tour by both Wilde and his promoters. * Kate Hext, The Times Literary Supplement *Fascinating. * The New Yorker *Mendelssohn's scrupulous account humanizes Wilde. * Alexander C. Kafka, The Washington Post *Mendelssohn's book is well researched and written, clear, readable, and engaging. She describes some less known events in Wilde's life in spellbinding detail... In it, we learn of the impact of early key life experiences upon later life and that those who are exploited sometimes exploit others. * Beth Bidlack, Mount Holyoke College, Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work *Mendelssohn's contribution to Wilde's legacy is her fresh look at the American tour, providing social and cultural context. A familiar biography embedded in a lively cultural history. * Kirkus *Both tragic and touching, Mendelssohn has penned a biography worthy of its subject. She takes the reader behind the scenes of Victorian England and post-Civil War America to reveal a secret self-creation that would make modern internet influencers turn green with envy. * Best Books We Read in 2018, The Advocate *The writing is compelling and easy to follow, the tone light, the focus unusual and enlightening. Many of the images are new. * CHOICE *You may not think there is new stuff to learn about Oscar Wilde, but there is - as this book proves. Michèle Mendelssohn has succeeded in throwing new light on Wilde's remarkable American lecture tour. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this is a valuable addition to Wildean scholarship. * Gyles Brandreth, President of the Oscar Wilde Society and author of The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries *Michèle Mendelssohn's vividly written, consistently illuminating, and lavishly illustrated book is full of surprises, above all in showing how Wilde's Irishness played into the story of race relations in post-Civil War America. * Michael Gorra, author of Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece *An original, meticulously-researched and beautifully-paced account of how a modern writer invented himself, and was invented, as an international artist-celebrity. He made his world, but not in conditions of his own choosing. This stylish meditation on the mysteries of identity illustrates Wilde's belief that the best way to intensify a personality is to multiply it. * Declan Kiberd, author of Ulysses and Us *One of the most devastating, complex and presently political literary biographies I've ever read. * Eileen Myles, author of Chelsea Girls *A scholastic triumph, this highly original book rewrites the story of Oscar's tour of America with new, vivid detail, from fresh, unmined sources. Presenting the young Wilde caught in up a complex web of social and racial prejudices, Mendelssohn not only offers us a surprising view of Oscar through the lens of c19th America, but refocuses the young Wilde for a new generation. * Franny Moyle *Michèle Mendelssohn's Making Oscar Wilde is a fresh, exciting and illuminating study of the construction of celebrity and reputation. Looking at Wilde's trip to the United States in 1882, Mendelssohn shows both how stereotypes of the wild Irish immigrant and the minstrel show, and the promotional strategies of Wilde and his tour manager, made him a controversial star. The story of St. Oscar will never be the same. * Elaine Showalter, Professor Emerita of English, Princeton University *Enlightening and provocative ... Making Oscar Wilde is a breezily paced and entertaining read, and throughout Mendelssohn's style is refreshingly unstuffy. * Gregory Mackie, Literary Review of Canada *A vivid, intelligent look at Victorian celebrity culture through the rise to fame of one of its brightest stars. * New York Journal of Books *Mendelssohn's vibrantly written, deeply realised reassessment of the origins and character of Wilde's celebrity achieves what is likely to have been her ultimate goal: to change the landscape of Wildean biography in significant, possibly definitive ways, while implicitly laying the groundwork for other studies yet to come. It is no mean achievement. * Joseph Donoghue, The Wildean *Michèle Mendelssohn's astonishing demonstration [shows] that just when you thought you knew everything about the life of Oscar Wilde, there's more. [...] Someone could make a movie out of Making Oscar Wilde. * Andrew Holleran, The Gay & Lesbian Review *Mendelssohn's book reveals a man for whom the word charisma could have been invented, but also a man living on the edge. [...] This portrayal of Wilde will only add to the lustre of his reputation. * Steve Craggs, The Northern Echo *[An] illuminating book ... To say these 267 pages [...] will remain something of an enduring read, for a long, long time to come, is a mighty understatement ... Regal and (a little) risque, compelling and (occasionally) complex, this book could well be deemed more of a gripping, American cultural history, as opposed to a straight ahead, biographical analysis. * David Marx, David Marx: Book Reviews *Table of ContentsList of Plates Prologue: What's the matter with Oscar Wilde? PART ONE, 1854-1881 Turning Points Do You Find the World Very Hollow? Astonishing the Dons Not Having Set the World Quite on Fire PART TWO, 1882-1883 Colonel Morse's Campaign Oscar Dear Mr. Wild of Borneo, or The Paddy Life Imitates Art Is it Manhood? The War of Art Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing Son of Speranza Underground Men Going South The Confederate PART THREE, 1883-1900 Success is a Science You Have Made Your Name By the Throat Epilogue: The Private View Appendix: The Mystery of Wilde's Black Valet

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Book SynopsisIncludes funny memoirs of one of Britain's best-loved, highly successful comedy writers, whose scripts for "Morecambe" and "Wise" catapulted the incomparable duo to stardom.Trade ReviewPure Morecombe and Wise. Boom boom. -- Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisSharp tells the riveting stories of the fiercely intelligent, glamorous and iconoclastic twentieth-century women who made their way to Manhattan to forge spectacular literary careers, from Dorothy Parker to Joan Didion.Trade ReviewThere can't be enough cultural histories which make the point that a woman intellectual must represent her own mind, and not the collective mind of all her 'sisters.' Sharp is a brisk, entertaining, well-researched reminder that it's impossible to write - or think - without making life very messy for oneself, but to do so is an achievement well worth the pains -- Sheila Heti, author of How Should A Person Be?I have to recommend Michelle Dean's Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion, a delicious cultural history that comes out in April. It brings together some of the most influential social critics of the 20th century, including Dorothy Parker, Mary McCarthy, Hannah Arendt, Susan Sontag and Joan Didion, and shows how these glamorous iconoclasts forged their singular careers. Dean makes the convincing argument that women's voices--if not necessarily feminist ones--did far more to define the last century's intellectual life than we realize -- Michelle Goldberg * New York Times *[A] stunning and highly accessible introduction to a group of important writers * Publishers Weekly *Michelle Dean has delivered an exquisite examination - both rigorous and compassionate - of what it has meant to be a woman with a public voice and the power to use it critically. This book is ferociously good -- Rebecca Traister, New York Times-bestselling author of All the Single LadiesThis is such a great idea for a book, and Michelle Dean carries it off, showing us the complexities of her fascinating, extraordinary subjects, in print and out in the world. Dean writes with vigor, depth, knowledge and absorption, and as a result Sharp is a real achievement -- Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female PersuasionThis is a great and worthy project: a primer for those for whom these names are new; a sustaining reminder for those already familiar with them. You put it down feeling steadier, more determined -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Michelle Dean's Sharp, a portrait of 10 female writers and thinkers, is a bracing tribute to the life of the iconoclastic mind: a reminder, in our age of flashy hot takes, of the matchless power of sustained and elegant argument -- Pankaj Mishra * Guardian *A fascinating analysis of brilliant female writers. By the end you'll want to read something by all of them * Evening Standard *These crisp mini-portraits of some of 20th-century America's most brilliant women writers - like Joan Didion, Dorothy Parker and Nora Ephron - are so inspiring -- Carina Axelsson

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Book SynopsisThe revealing of T. S. Eliot''s hidden muse - Emily Hale, the Hyacinth Girl of the famous The Waste Land poem''Extraordinary... A rare work of sympathy and insight'' Colm Tóibín''Gordon sifts through the documents with her customary care and delicacy'' Frances Wilson, Telegraph''Thanks to Gordon''s meticulous research and inspired storytelling we will never read [Eliot''s] poems the same way again'' Heather Clark''Exquisitely nuanced'' Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times''An illuminating account'' Publishers Weekly''As exciting as a detective story... Gordon establishes the profound influence [the relationship] had upon the substance and in particular upon the imagery of Eliot''s work'' Margaret Drabble, New StatesmanAmong the greatest of poets, T. S. Eliot protected his privacy while publicly associated with three women: two wives and a church-going compaTrade ReviewExtraordinary... The Hyacinth Girl is a rare work of sympathy and insight. Lyndall Gordon's passionately intelligent engagement with the letters between T. S. Eliot and Emily Hale is matched by her close reading of Eliot's poems. Her ability to see both complexity and simplicity in the relationship between Eliot and Hale means that their entangled world comes fully alive in this brilliant book * Colm Tóibín *Gordon sifts through the documents with her customary care and delicacy... [her] subtle readings never lose sight of the central mystery -- Frances Wilson * Telegraph *Explores some of the most significant relationships of Eliot's life, and by shifting the focus to these women a less familiar Eliot emerges... in tracing Hale's life to its end, [Gordon] reminds us that she lived her own life * Spectator *T.S. Eliot's oft-forgotten relationship with an American woman takes center stage in this illuminating account from Gordon ... it also treats the women in his life with dignity and goes a long way in reversing the erasure he attempted. Literature lovers, take note * Publishers Weekly *There is no finer guide into the mind of T. S. Eliot than Lyndall Gordon... Thanks to her meticulous research and inspired storytelling we will never read [Eliot's] poems the same way again * Heather Clark, author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath *Allows Gordon to find new coherence in Eliot's otherwise apparently fragmented interior life... Equally praiseworthy are Gordon's sensitive assessments of the other women who shaped Eliot's life * Booklist *An astute portrait of Eliot... Gordon illuminates Eliot's writing through the prism of his correspondence with Emily Hale, demonstrating how central she is to a real understanding of the man and his work... A revelatory book' * Erica Wagner, author of Ariel's Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and the story of Birthday Letters *Gordon is the first biographer to uncover the life of T. S. Eliot's hidden muse... [her] fairminded and declarative approach works perfectly for a story that gives the reader a shocked understanding of the way that a literary genius was ready to banish the women he loved when they no longer served his purpose... a work that will change the way Eliot is seen * Miranda Seymour, author of I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys *Exquisitely nuanced -- Kathryn Hughes * Sunday Times *In The Hyacinth Girl, which is based on an incendiary cache of letters only recently released from their 14 steel-bound boxes, Gordon writes that when opened in January 2020 'detonated according to plan'... It is a tale of betrayal on a grand scale, and it is very well told... Gordon's account is as exciting as a detective story... She catches the drama brilliantly... Gordon establishes the profound influence [his relationship with Hale] had upon the substance and in particular upon the imagery of his work, lasting from The Waste Land through to Four Quartets -- Margaret Drabble * New Statesman *In 1977, Gordon published Eliot's Early Years, a sharp-eyed book setting his work in the context of his life. The reviews were savage: one male New Statesman critic said it is was full of "gossip and memoirs... the result is a disaster". "I knew instantly that I wanted nothing more than to live to the day when the letters would be opened," says Gordon. She was there on 2 January 2020, aged 78, at Princeton's special collections room . The final line of her new book's introduction speaks volumes: "I was not disappointed." -- Jude Rogers * Observer *One of the most refreshing things about The Hyacinth Girl is that Gordon doesn't glorify or put down Eliot... Gordon somehow manages to keep Eliot's poetry and prose central to the book, while maintaining a quiet but persistent moral authority * UK Time News *[A] sensitive study of Emily Hale, Eliot's childhood sweetheart in America -- Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph *Gordon is a writer of high intelligence and deep sensibility, with an earnest interest in truth and justice... These qualities, coupled with a moral seriousness that is never solemn, are evident throughout The Hyacinth Girl -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Literary Review *Lyndall Gordon has always combined the precision of a literary scholar with the human insight of a biographer... The Hyacinth Girl is a revelation... A brilliant account of how great art has nothing to do with good behaviour -- Books of the Year * Tablet *Gordon's work has two great strengths... She is sympathetic to all the women in Eliot's life [and] she shows the huge influence of Hale on Eliot's poetry * Church Times *The Hyacinth Girl is not only insightful and important, but a moving account of an unfairly obscured life... Gordon's even-handedness allows her book to achieve both a necessary revisionism and a subtler, shrewder psychological portrait * Tablet *The most brilliant and incisive new book on Eliot -- Colm Tóibín * Irish Times, Books of the Year *Vibrant.... In narrating [Eliot's] romantic attachments, [Gordon] captures his manipulations, his selfishness, what she calls his 'cruelty,' without abandoning her mission to understand him and his writing... There is a human richness to Eliot's cerebral poetry that we can appreciate more in the context of his knotted emotional life, and Gordon's art is in drawing this out -- Katie Roiphe * New York Times *A masterpiece... Gordon writes sympathetically about all Eliot's women... a feat of multi-dimensional life-writing... wonderfully illuminating * Daily Maverick *Gordon superbly recounts the life of Emily Hale - TS Eliot's hidden muse, whose love for him was never consummated, but sustained through a decades-long stream of transatlantic letters * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThe authorised biography of Shirley Hazzard, one of the greatest writers in the English language, author of The Transit of Venus and winner of the National Book Award''Lambent, discerning, deeply intelligent and empathetic'' Lucy Scholes, Financial Times''Impeccably researched and deeply incisive'' Lily King, New York Times''A refined, deeply insightful perspective'' Chloe Schama, Vogue''Absorbing, well-crafted... scrupulously researched'' KirkusBorn and raised in Sydney Australia, Hazzard lived around the world: in Hong Kong; Wellington, New Zealand; New York; Naples and Capri and her writing -- cosmopolitan, richly intelligent, beautiful, questing -- reflects her life. Her body of work is small but the acclaim it attracts is immeasurable, from among others, Michael Cunningham, Zoe Heller, Ann Patchett, Anne Tyler, Lauren Goff, Hermione Lee, Joan Didion, Richard Ford, Colm ToiTrade ReviewLambent, discerning, deeply intelligent and empathetic... illuminated by Olubas's understanding of the elemental, almost alchemical interplay between Hazzard's lived experience and her fiction... one of those rare biographies that sends one greedily back to the subject's work, better equipped to appreciate the richness on display -- Lucy Scholes * Financial Times *An impeccably researched and deeply incisive account of Hazzard's life and work, and the intriguing interplay between the two -- Lily King * New York Times *Olubas has a light touch; she presents the discrepancies between her diaries and letters without the need for invasive interpretation... She attends to Hazzard as only someone who loves her could, with generosity, fairness and a deeply human understanding -- Charlotte Stroud * London Magazine *While evidently a champion of Hazzard's work, Olubas makes it clear that the writer had limitations, personal and professional... Olubas's biography demonstrates that for Hazzard poetry was the great, lasting force of self-rescue -- Declan Ryan * Spectator *Superb... Strikingly well-placed and well-proportioned in its relation of a long life, and keeps a sound balance of youth and age, and books and life... Like and as befits her subject, Olubas comes with a gift for place and psychology * Times Literary Supplement *Meticulously crafted... Olubas's biography is more than just a map of the author's movements... It's an account, as she puts it, of 'a writer in the process of making herself', chronicling how geographic, political, and psychic influences coalesce in a refined, deeply insightful perspective... This new account of Hazzard's life should confirm her as one of the 20th century's greatest novelists * Vogue *Shirley Hazzard's life reads like something out of a Shirley Hazzard novel - precise, unique, lyrical and always riveting... If there is such a thing as a perfect literary biography, this is it * Daniel Torday *Brigitta Olubas's definitive biography of Hazzard captures in abundance the idealism and ardor of a great cosmopolitan artist, radiant and indispensable * Benjamin Taylor *What a tremendous gift to Shirley Hazzard's readers! The whole pageant is here in glorious, granular detail... Brigitta Olubas has unearthed a wealth of archival material, which she sifts with psychological acuity and a profound understanding of Hazzard's work... The result is intimate, proportionate and supremely compelling * Michelle de Kretser *A woman raised in tumult seeks a higher realm in art and literature in this rich biography... Hazzard emerges as intelligent, complex and determined - fans of her work should check out this insightful portrait * Publishers Weekly *An illuminating portrait... In this scrupulously researched biography, Olubas... charts the meandering course of Hazzard's life and travels, drawing on events and impressions that would inform much of her writing... Throughout, Olubas offers a discerning, cleareyed perspective of Hazzard's complex character and a persuasive appraisal of what distinguishes her work... An absorbing, well-crafted profile of a supremely gifted writer * Kirkus *A new biography that reveals the life to be just as remarkable as the work, and both essential to the story of 20th century literature * The Critic *Hazzard deserves every page of this insightful biography by Australian scholar Brigitta Olubas, who elegantly reweaves the facts and fictions of Hazzard's emotional and intellectual life, tracing her determined rise from the doldrums of postwar Sydney to the cultural heights of New York and Italy * Guardian *An extraordinarily rich and detailed biography... a brilliant achievement... Her style reads at times like a Hazzard echo * The Conversation *Hazzard has found an ideal chronicler in Brigitta Olubas, whose Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life is an exemplary work of biographical criticism... She can capture small things, like Hazzard's tone of voice... But she's just as sharp on big things, like Hazzard's early tendency to fall, dramatically and disastrously, for married men * Baffler *Immersive, exacting, glittering... From letters, diaries, notebooks, and friends' memories, Olubas has built a dense, powerful narrative with real momentum - as freighted with incident and portent as a work of Dickens * Boston Globe *Peels back the layers and shines a light on where Hazzard began, who she became and what shaped her literary achievements... An insightful and engrossing book which expertly maps, celebrates and illuminates Hazzard's eventful life * Wall Street Journal *Olubas constructs a fascinating portrait of Hazzard's early life in Australia, and throughout she weaves in astute suggestions of biographical experiences that influenced Hazzard's fiction... An impressive, revealing, and worthy biography of one of the most important writers of the last century * Booklist *Extraordinary... Olubas's dedicated reading of Hazzard's diaries and papers, and those of others in her circles, has yielded an astute subtext of lived experience, literary and political influences... I read it in a rush of urgency and passion... I couldn't stop, and once I'd finished wanted immediately to return and reread the fiction... that is the mark of a successful literary biography * Sydney Morning Herald *Brigitta Olubas's meticulous new account of Hazzard's life reads as a necessary corrective to prejudices about the author and her fiction... Olubas has managed to create an engaging narrative from a wide range of sources. Best of all, she has incorporated Hazzard's own versions of her life, both fictional and documentary, to create a character more interesting than we might have imagined * Inside Story *

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Book SynopsisContemporaries were mesmerized by the outrageous wit of Jonathan Swift (1667â1745), a writer still widely regarded as the greatest satirist of all time. Soon after Swiftâs death, his friends and enemies raced to publish the definitive account of the Dean of St Patrickâs. Now, Routledge brings these major works together for the first time in a new, three-volume, facsimile collection, supplemented with a full introduction, bibliographies, and other textual apparatus.The collectionâs editor avers that these highly influential biographies of one of the leading literary figures of his generation remain incompletely understood. The persistence of a number of myths can be traced back to these studies of Swift, including his own pseudo-biographical fragment on his early life. It is crucial that many of these biographies were written or commissioned by friends and allies of Swift and that some were writtenâor were informed byâhis enemies. The collectionâs editor makes clear that the lives of Swift have a strongly interdependent relationship and, by bringing these studies together in one easy-to-use reference resource, scholars will more readily be able to trace the perambulations of specific anecdotes and biographical readings, and better understand how Johnsonâs defining picture of Swift emerged.Volume I of the collection opens with an extended introductory account of the history of biographies and biographical criticism of Swift in the eighteenth century and beyond. The volume reproduces Lord Orreryâs notorious âJudas-biographyâ, the Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr Jonathan Swift (1752), and a little-known book-length response, A Letter from a Gentleman in the Country, to his Son in the College of Dublin (1752â3), and, finally, the entry on Swift in Cibberâs multivolume collection The Lives of the Poets (1753). The second volume includes the largely overlooked Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift, DD (1752), a freely adapted plagiarism of Orreryâs Remarks, and Patrick Delanyâs well-known Observations upon Lord Orreryâs âRemarks on the Life and Writings of Dr Jonathan Swiftâ (1754). This volume also contains the biographical essay from John Hawkesworthâs Works of Jonathan Swift, DD, Dean of St Patrickâs, Dublin (1755), and the undervalued Life of Jonathan Swift by the lesser-known biographer W. H. Dilworth. (Although it is largely unexamined by modern scholars, his influence on contemporary Swift studies merits renewed attention.)The final volume in the collection, meanwhile, comprises Deane Swiftâs seminal Essay upon the Life, Writings, and Character of Dr Jonathan Swift (1755), which includes Jonathan Swiftâs own fragmentary âFamily of Swiftâ (c. 1727), and Patrick Delanyâs cantankerous response, A Letter to Dean Swift, Esq (1755). The collection ends with full textual apparatus, including contemporary reviews of, and responses to, the competing lives of Jonathan Swift.The Lives of Jonathan Swift provides a full and fascinating picture of eighteenth-century attitudes to one of the great figures of the age. It will be welcomed by Swift scholars and students, as well as those more broadly interested in the art and function of literary biography.ââââ ââââRoutledge facsimile collections make key archival source material readily available to scholars, researchers, and students of literary studies, as well as those working in allied and related fields. Selected and introduced by expert editors, the gathered materials are reproduced in facsimile, giving users a strong sense of immediacy to the texts and permitting citation to the original pagination.

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Book SynopsisArthur Mee (1875-1943), best remembered as the creator of The Children''s Encyclopaedia, was more than a popular editor, journalist and travel writer; for a generation of young readers and their parents, the name Arthur Mee truly meant something. For many in his audience, the narratives and discourses embedded within his writing tied together and legitimised a trinity of beliefs that lay at the heart of his nonconformist faith and character: God, England and Empire.Despite the enormous appeal of his many published works, which during the first half of the twentieth century saw him become a household name and a major publishing brand, Mee has remained an ethereal figure. In Arthur Mee, the first full-length account of Mee''s life since 1946, Crawford draws upon a range of Mee''s correspondence to offer for the first time a realistic picture of the man at work and at home as an antidote to the overly romanticised image attached to his name. The book places Mee''s work within the wider cuTrade Review'Keith Crawford has conjured up an intriguing portrait of Arthur Mee, the passionate puritan whose Children's Encyclopaedia made him as famous as HP Sauce. Mee blitzed British culture with his own eccentric mix of nonconformism, Darwinism, imperialism, social reformism and cultural conservatism. Crawford gets inside Mee's vision in this judicious treatment of one of mass culture's important but half-forgotten pioneers.' - Dennis Smith, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Loughborough University, author of Conflict and Compromise: Class Formation in English Society 1830-1914 'Keith Crawford has produced a sparkling gem of a biography of Arthur Mee, creator of The Children's Encyclopaedia, but he has done much more than that. In charting Mee's rise as one of the most influential figures in the production of children's educational literature in the Anglophone world until the mid-twentieth century, Keith Crawford has artfully captured and analysed the intellectual, artistic and sentimental currents of an age, including their racial, gendered and classed aspects, as they eddied around and were taken up by Arthur Mee.' - Josephine May, Associate Professor, Newcastle University, Australia 'Dr Crawford has produced a sympathetic, insightful and persuasive study of one of the most influential commentators and journalists of the last century.' - Martin Wellings, Methodist Recorder, 16th September 2016 'This attractive produced volume reflects both energetic research and perceptive interpretation.' - Baptist Quarterly, Volume 48, 2017 '[Keith Crawford] aims explicitly to meet the needs of both academic and generalist readers, to achieve a critical or intellectual biography while pursuing the personal and professional connections that 'narrative biography' requires.... He offers a full and precise account of his influential subject, of family, career and lifestyle.... Crawford's [book] is distinguished by its generous inclusion of graphic illustrations, reinforcing the journalist Mee's and the historian Crawford's attention to the power of visual media.' - Peter Cunningham, History of Education, Vol. 47, No. 1, November 2017Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface 1. Beginnings 2. Caught in the Harmsworth Web 3. Manufacturing a Brand 4. God, Faith and Evolution 5. A Matchless England 6. An Accidental Empire 7. Society, Humanity and Order 8. The Challenge of the Modern 9. "A Heartbreaking World" Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTheodore Roosevelt (18571919) was the most literary of American Presidents, writing scores of books, including Through the Brazilian Wilderness and African Game Trails. He was also the most active of American writers. In little more than six decades, Roosevelt was, among many of his activities, a rancher, historian, reformer, New York City Police Commissioner, renowned hunter, New York State Governor, conservationist, Vice President of the United States, and 26th President of the United States. What is less known is that Roosevelt was also one of the great epistolary writers, penning more than 100,000 letters. This collection brings together over 1,000 of Roosevelt's most engaging and revealing letters, ones that fully illuminate the private man and the public figure. Herein, Roosevelt corresponds with family, friends, colleagues, and political opponents. He discusses private matters, politics, military strategy, conservation, diplomacy, higher education, women's rights, literature, Trade ReviewTheodore Roosevelt was at his energetic, opinionated, and delightful best in his correspondence. Brands's admirable edition of his letters is the best possible introduction to one of our greatest presidents. -- Donald Herbert Donald, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Charles Sumner and LincolnThe letters provide a vivid reminder of Roosevelt's forceful prose and the depth of his reading. For comprehending Roosevelt's volcanic and shrewd temperament, nothing can match reading his correspondence. * Los Angeles Times *'Teddy' was in many ways the quintessential American, and this collection of more than 1,000 letters to Jefferson Davis, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Booker T. Washington, Woodrow Wilson, and cousin Franklin, to mention just a few of T.R.'s countless correspondents, reveals both the private citizen and public official who shaped America's politics and national character. * Denver Post *What a treat it is now to be able to enjoy the letters of Teddy Roosevelt, one of the nation's most intellegent, colorful, and important personalities. -- Paul C. Nagel, author of Descent from Glory and John Quincy AdamsWith H. W. Brands's briskly and knowledgeably edited The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, readers can tap into TR's inner intellectual and emotional life. . . . Roosevelt is a captivating writer. A reader of extraordinary breadth, he lived a good deal of his life among highly crafted language, and it shows in the sheer pleasure that he took in putting words on paper. -- Christine Stansell * The New Republic *To immerse oneself in these letters is to understand exactly what Henry Adams meant when he wrote that Roosevelt displayed 'the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act.' * Claremont Review of Books *Brands organizes the letters chronologically into six chapters, with brief introductions to each and minimal annotation. The main criterion for inclusion was 'to illuminate Roosevelt—not necessarily the events or persons of which he wrote'—a goal that Brands admirably achieves. The TR who emerges from these pages appears in all his inquisitiveness, intelligence, energy, and eclectic interests, as well as his stubbornness and biases. Recommended for all libraries. * Library Journal *These highlights of Roosevelt's voluminous and candid correspondence . . . perfectly reflect the high-hearted combativeness of his spirit. * American Heritage *Arranged in chronological order from his youth to his dotage, these missives—addressed to an astonishing array of family, friends, and prominent literary, political, and cultural personae—offer an intimate glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of one of the most talented and multidimensional of all the U.S. presidents. Rich in character, context, and content, this superb collection of letters will appeal to both dedicated scholars and casual admirers of Theodore Roosevelt. * Booklist *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Blessed Youth, 1858–1881 Chapter 2: Making His Way, 1881–1889 Chapter 3: Public Servant, 1889–1898 Chapter 4: Hero, 1898–1901 Chapter 5: President, 1901–1909 Chapter 6: The Most Famous Man in the World, 1909–1919

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Book SynopsisThe compelling and intimate story of one of the world''s foremost short story writers''I read it with huge enjoyment - I think it''s by far the best Katherine Mansfield biography yet - giving a truthful but still sympathetic portrait.'' - Jacqueline Wilson, novelist & patron of the Katherine Mansfield Society''Jones writes with insight and verve, and an intelligent sympathy as her story is set out against those overlapping literary and social worlds the writer passes through.'' - Vincent O''Sullivan, co-editor of The Collected Letters of Katherine MansfieldWeaving together intimate details from Katherine Mansfield''s letters and journals with the writings of her friends and acquaintances, Kathleen Jones creates a captivating drama of this fragile yet feisty author: her life, loves and passion for writing.The story takes us beyond Mansfield''s death in 1923 to explore the life of her husband, John Middleton Murry - and his relationship with three further wives - as he manipulated the posthumous publication of Mansfield''s unpublished work. In this vivid portrayal of one of the world''s foremost short story writers, the first new biography for a quarter of a century, Kathleen Jones crafts an intriguing narrative of Katherine Mansfield''s relationships, illnesses and creativity.Trade ReviewA compelling narrative of a writer's passion for her work, her growth to maturity and the extraordinary trajectory which took a plump, awkward, rebellious little girl from a rigidly conventional family halfway across the world and into a culture of artistic, social and sexual experimentation. -- Helen Dunmore, novelist I read it with huge enjoyment -- I think it's by far the best Katherine Mansfield biography yet -- giving a truthful but still sympathetic portrait. -- Jacqueline Wilson, novelist & patron of the Katherine Mansfield Society Jones has brought to the work a scholar's regard for fact, a novelist's regard for form, and a poet's regard for cadence. The test of a good literary biography is whether it makes you want to reacquaint yourself with the author's writing. This biography does just that. -- Sarah Sandley, Honorary Chair of the Katherine Mansfield Society Jones ! writes with insight and verve, and an intelligent sympathy as her story is set out against those overlapping literary and social worlds the writer passes through ! A mass of new material unavailable to earlier biographers makes this new telling richly detailed and compelling. -- Vincent O'Sullivan, co-editor of The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Jones conveys the living presence of Katherine Mansfield in the present tense, so that one feels, along with her all-time words, her continued presence. She conveys the full complexity of Mansfield's character with understanding and without bias - what a feat given how manifold it is. What Middleton Murry made of her has a parallelled fascination; the contrasts of the living reality and the purified legend, an ephemeral construct appropriately narrated in the past tense, were striking. A marvellous, innovative biography. -- Lyndall Gordon, Biographer What [emerges] with indisputable clarity from Jones's skilful use of her sources is a portrait of Mansfield, stylish and febrile, cigarette in one hand, pen in the other, relishing life, scrutinising it with her keen intelligence, and recording her perceptions in a voice that continues to unsettle and surprise. -- Pamela Norris Literary Review A compelling narrative of a writer's passion for her work, her growth to maturity and the extraordinary trajectory which took a plump, awkward, rebellious little girl from a rigidly conventional family halfway across the world and into a culture of artistic, social and sexual experimentation. I read it with huge enjoyment -- I think it's by far the best Katherine Mansfield biography yet -- giving a truthful but still sympathetic portrait. Jones has brought to the work a scholar's regard for fact, a novelist's regard for form, and a poet's regard for cadence. The test of a good literary biography is whether it makes you want to reacquaint yourself with the author's writing. This biography does just that. Jones ! writes with insight and verve, and an intelligent sympathy as her story is set out against those overlapping literary and social worlds the writer passes through ! A mass of new material unavailable to earlier biographers makes this new telling richly detailed and compelling. Kathleen Jones conveys the living presence of Katherine Mansfield in the present tense, so that one feels, along with her all-time words, her continued presence. She conveys the full complexity of Mansfield's character with understanding and without bias - what a feat given how manifold it is. What Middleton Murry made of her has a parallelled fascination; the contrasts of the living reality and the purified legend, an ephemeral construct appropriately narrated in the past tense, were striking. A marvellous, innovative biography. What [emerges] with indisputable clarity from Jones's skilful use of her sources is a portrait of Mansfield, stylish and febrile, cigarette in one hand, pen in the other, relishing life, scrutinising it with her keen intelligence, and recording her perceptions in a voice that continues to unsettle and surprise.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Introduction; Part I-Leaving All Fair, 1 Fontainebleau, 2 The Husband's Story, 3 Ida's Story; Part II-Wanted: A New World, 4 'The Wizard London', 5 Freedom and Experience, 6 The Lost Child, 7 Coming of Age in Bavaria, 8 In Search of Katherine Mansfield, 9 'The Model Boys-will-be-boys Pseudo Intellectual Magazine'; Part III-The Two Katherines, 10 Violet, 11 The Failure of Love; Part IV, 12 Tig and Wig, 13 Rananim, 14 Prelude, 15 The 'Blooms Berries'; Part V-Betty, 16 In Limbo, 17 'The Last Hell'; Part IV-The Dark Katherine, 18 Facing Oblivion, 19 At the Bottom of the Sea, 20 The Perfect Friend, 21 'A Writer First and a Woman After'; Part VII-A Religion of Love, 22 Keeping Faith; Part VIII-'The Levantine Psychic Shark', 23 The Soul's Desperate Choice, 24 'A Child of the Sun'; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the story of the extraordinary link between actual murder and the greatest detective story writer of all time.Trade ReviewMeticulously researched -- Stewart LamontSandford’s accomplished, well-crafted work brings Conan Doyle into sharp relief as a man of scrupulous fairness and great integrityAdds a new dimension to our understanding of the creator of Sherlock Holmes -- Hugh Ashton

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Book SynopsisIn Agatha Christie: The Finished Portrait, Dr Andrew Norman delves deep into the crime writer's past to discover the desperate insecurity that sparked her disappearance in 1926. Agatha Christie suffered from recurrent nightmares where she was petrified that one or other of her family would be replaced by a terrifying figure called the Gunman' and lost to her forever. She was reminded of this figure both when her father died, and when her husband Archie demanded a divorce. This event precipitated such a crisis in Agatha's mind that she became temporarily unhinged. She lost her memory and assumed a new identity: that of her husband's mistress. Only now, thirty years after Agatha's death, is it possible to explain fully, in the light of scientific knowledge, her behaviour during her troubled disappearance, when she lived incognito in a Harrogate hotel.One of Agatha's novels, Unfinished Portrait, which is largely autobiographical, gives a unique insight into how the heroine, Celia (who is really Agatha in disguise), may have managed finally to rid herself of the Gunman and go on to lead a happier and more fulfilled life. By deciphering clues from this and her other works, Agatha Christie: The Finished Portrait sheds light on what is perhaps the greatest mystery of all to be associated with Agatha Christie, namely that of the person herself.

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Book SynopsisCharles Dickens was in his own day the most popular novelist who had ever lived, a public figure adored like a present-day pop star. He still holds his place as one of the greatest English writers, an original genius whose novels are an essential link in the canon of English literature. He was also actively involved in the life of his time, campaigning for social and educational reform and sharply critical of contemporary society.This short biography provides an excellent introduction to Dickens, from his disturbed childhood with a traumatic period working in a blacking factory, his instant success as a young writer and his tumultuous acclaim in both England and America, the major novels of the 1850s and ''60s and the establishment of Household Words, to the final years as a public performer of his own work.

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Book SynopsisFirst full-length biography for 30 years of the great First World War poet.Trade Reviewa compelling portrait of a poet who never lost his illusions about the war because he never had any in the first place * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *

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Book SynopsisFrances Partridge: the last survivor of the Bloomsbury group - the authorised biography.Trade ReviewThis tale is seen from a fresh perspective in Anne Chisholm's prodigiousy sympathetic biography * OBSERVER *Anne Chisholm's biography adds a great deal to Partridge's wonderful diaries...Chisholm is also superb at capturing charisma, including Ralph's, though her experienced biographer's view of him is not as adoring as his wife's. -- Ophelia Field * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Frances emerges as lively, articulate and appealing. * INDEPENDENT *

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Book SynopsisJohn Clare was born at a time of great social upheaval, just months after the beheading of Louis XVI and the outbreak of war with France. This exploration of John Clare's life shows the socio-economic and environmental aspects of his observations and includes his reports on an insidious revolution taking place in the English countryside.

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Book SynopsisExamines Gibran's letters, his publisher's archives and documents, revealing the extent of his influence and the extraordinary message of peace and hope in his work. This work retraces Gibran's life, from humble beginnings in Lebanon to his artistic training in Paris and meteoric rise to fame in the US, his adopted home.Table of ContentsPreface 71. Bsharri 112. Off to the New World 253. Back to His Roots 334. Tragic Events 415. Beginnings 496. The City of Light 597. 'Beloved Mary' 798. New York 859. May 10110. World War I 10911. From Nature towards Infinity 12312. The Pen League 13113. The Prophet 13914. 'The Winged Self ' 14915. 'Let Me Sleep' 15916. After Death 171Acknowledgments 179Bibliography 180

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Book SynopsisThis engaging and fresh biography begins by examining how Shakespeare's life turns into myth so comfortably as to seduce even the most sceptical scholar. The early departure, the late return. Public success, private loss. A twilight of plays about family reunions, a death at home in the biggest house in town, the one he walked by as a schoolboy and eyed with envy, or at least ambition. Shakespeare led an orbital life, everything returned to where it began. He even had the dramatic good sense to die on his birthday. One of the appealing dynamics of the Shakespeare myth is the contrast of his humble beginnings and his lofty achievements, persuading us that genius might blossom anywhere. William Shakespeare: A Brief Life honours these myths, but also explores some of the mysteries: why Shakespeare left Stratford, who he ran with in London, why he put down his pen and at last came home again. Ultimately, the book explores the compelling contrast between the mere fifty two years Trade ReviewWritten with verve, this biography is as breezy as it is illuminating. * Laurie Maguire, Fellow, Magdalen College, and Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford, UK *As wry and witty as it is thorough and thoughtful, Menzer’s eminently readable study is the most fun you will ever have with a biography of Shakespeare. * Andrew Hartley, Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA *Table of ContentsSeries Preface Preface: The Complete Life of William Shakespeare Chapter 1. Shakespeare’s Dead Chapter 2. Earth Unto Earth Chapter 3. Shakespeare at School Chapter 4. Anne Hathaway, aka Chapter 5. The Lost Years Chapter 6. Stratford in the Rear View Chapter 7. Enter London Chapter 8. Shakespeare, playwright Chapter 9. Shakespeare, poet Chapter 10. Shakespeare’s Company Chapter 11. William Shakespeare, gent. Chapter 12. Shakespeare at Court Chapter 13. Shakespeare’s Globe? Chapter 14. Shakespeare’s Properties Chapter 15. The King’s Man Chapter 16. The Plague Years Chapter 17. Shakespeare’s Daughters Chapter 18. The Returning Point Chapter 19. Shakespeare’s Head Epilogue: Yellow Leaves Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe Experimentalists is a collective biography, capturing the life and times of the British experimental writers of the swinging 1960s. A decade of research, including as-yet unopened archives and interviews with the writers' colleagues, is brought together to produce a comprehensive history of this ill-starred group of renegade writers. Whether the bolshie B.S. Johnson, the globetrotting Ann Quin, the cerebral Christine Brooke-Rose, or the omnipresent Anthony Burgess, these writers each brought their own unique contributions to literature at a time uniquely open to their iconoclastic message. The journey connects historical moments from Bletchley Park, to Paris May '68, to terrorist groups of the 1970s. A tale of love, loss, friendship and a shared vision, this book is a fascinating insight into a bold, provocative and influential group of writers whose collective story has gone untold, until now.Trade ReviewA whimsical and witty romp through the writing, lives and turbulent times of British experimental writers of the 1960s. Darlington tells a well-informed and illuminating story that enriches scholarship and engages new readers alike. * Nonia Williams, Lecturer in Literature, University of East Anglia, UK *A truly amazing book! - Philip Tew, Professor Emeritus, Brunel University, UKTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. 1960 and Before 3. 1960 to 1963 4. 1964 to 1965 5. 1966 to 1967 6. 1968 to 1969 7. 1970 to 1972 8. 1973 and After Index

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Book Synopsis''As deft and devastating as a piece of non-fiction writing in miniature as you're ever likely to read ... A collection to be savoured, its urbanity, wisdom and humorous probing best digested at leisure'' Daily TelegraphIn Facts and Fiction, Michael Holroyd reflects on the eccentricities of the art of writing about others. With characteristic playfulness and guilefulness, he considers the ways in which lives can be written about, with all the subtle differences of design and intention that this entails.From Rudyard Kipling to forgetfulness, the glories of Mary Norton's Borrowers books to fellow biographers like Richard Holmes and Alexander Masters, Holroyd tackles an eclectic range of topics with wit, warmth and humour. This is a unique insight into the mind of a master.Trade ReviewThese glancing encounters show biographer Holroyd at his versatile best … He breathes life and intrigue into every subject he alights on … A joyous collection -- Hephzibah Anderson * Observer *As deft and devastating as a piece of non-fiction writing in miniature as you’re ever likely to read, and it illustrates not only the biographer’s power to shape perceptions of his or her subject but also the artistry that underpins what sometimes masquerades as elegant reportage: truly, as this collection’s title indicates, facts and fiction … A collection to be savoured, its urbanity, wisdom and humorous probing best digested at leisure -- Matthew Dennison * Daily Telegraph *Holroyd navigates the stories behind the books that made his name with a sensitive humour, delving deeply into the art of writing about others. A charming and engaging collection, Facts and Fiction reflects warmly on the intricacies and eccentricities of the most personal form of writing -- New StatesmanMasterly, full of new insight -- Praise for 'Lytton Strachey: The New Biography' * Sunday Express *Holroyd has a wonderful eye for detail ... an entirely captivating biography ... one of the glories of the form -- Praise for 'A Strange Eventful History' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSol Plaatje is celebrated as one of South Africa's most accomplished political and literary figures. A pioneer in the history of the black press, editor of several newspapers, he was one of the founders of the African National Congress in 1912 and twice travelled overseas to represent the interests of his people.

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Book SynopsisAuberon Waugh was a philosopher - savage, eccentric, but a philosopher nonetheless. More than any writer of his era, Auberon Waugh had a genius for dividing his readers, into the delighted and the infuriated, and he retains the ability to start a squabble, even from beyond the grave. Kiss Me, Chudleigh is a collection of Waugh''s best writing. It is also a compact biography.It consists of excerpts from the things he wrote, drawn from every stage of his career, from his salad days on the Catholic Herald to his swansong on the Literary Review. Probably the most prolific journalist of his generation (and surely the wittiest) he wrote copiously for publications as diverse as the New Statesman and The Daily Telegraph. He wrote a political column for The Spectator and a country column in the Evening Standard, a wine column, a medical column and heaps of entertaining travel pieces. Arranged both chronologically and thTrade Review'Auberon Waugh ... was the most controversial, the most abusive, perhaps the most brilliant journalist of his age - an acerbic wit, a traveller, a farceur, an epicure; above all, a hater of humbug in all its forms and of politicians in most of theirs.' * The Telegraph *'A master of the surreal.' * Craig Brown *'The Dean Swift of his day.' * AN Wilson *'An ideological trailblazer.' * Boris Johnson *'The greatest journalist of his generation.' * Geoffrey Wheatcroft *'Wickedly funny, but sometimes just wicked.' * Lynn Barber *'A most unpleasant man.' * Tony Benn *'Absorbing and affectionate...This beautifully conceived anthology combines biographical detail with pithily hilarious extracts. Eclectic, thoughtful and always entertaining, this well-presented selection gives a fresh perspective on an extraordinary talent.' * The Good Book Guide *'For those who appreciate good writing and who delight in an elegantly phrased raspberry to the world's over-earnest bores, Kiss Me Chudleigh is a masterful collection of a strange but brilliant journalist.' * The National Business Review, New Zealand *Supremely funny * Mail on Sunday *A brilliant distillation of his prose. * Country Life *A tereific anthology of the twentieth century's greatest satirist. * Literary Review *A decade after his death, Auberon Waugh's genius is as fresh as ever. * Telegraph *Highly entertaining. * Independent *

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Book SynopsisPaul Alexander holds an MFA from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He is the author of biographies of Sylvia Plath, James Dean, and Andy Warhol. A former reporter for Time, Alexander has written articles for the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and the Guardian. He is a member of the Authors Guild and PEN American Centre. He lives in New York City.

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Book SynopsisJohn Took provides an entirely original view of one of the most important poets and thinkers in all of Western literature, Dante Alighieri.The year 2021 marks the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, a poet who, as T. S. Eliot put it, divides the world with Shakespeare, there being no third'. His, like ours, was a world of moral uncertainty and political violence, all of which made not only for the agony of exile but for an ever deeper meditation on the nature of human happiness.In Why Dante Matters, John Took offers by way of three in particular of Dante's works the Vita Nova as the great work of his youth, the Convivio as the great work of his middle years and the Commedia as the great work of his maturity an account, not merely of Dante's development as a poet and philosopher, but of his continuing presence to us as a guide to man's wellbeing as man. Committed as he was to the welfare not only of his contemporaries but of those Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface: Preliminary Confession Introduction: Dante and the Existential Point of View Dante at the Point of Ultimate Concern Dante: Who, What, Where and When? Course of the Argument 1 Dante, Self and Selfhood Love-Procession and the Love-Imperative: Preliminary Considerations in the Areas of Theology and Ethics Patterns of Self-Relatedness: Being as Ahead of Self, as Away from Self and Alongside Self A Phenomenology of Being 2 The Vita Nova Preliminary Considerations: New Life and a New Book Love and Love-Understanding: The Pilgrim Way A Commedia a minore 3 The Convivio Far-wandering and Friendship: The Courage of the Convivio Feasting and Faring Well: A Guide for the Dispossessed Problems of Perspective and a Civic Ontology 4 The Commedia Preliminary Considerations: Spiritual Journeying and the Courage to Be A Song of Ascents: The Commedia à la lettre Journeying under the Aspect of Seeing (Inferno) Journeying under the Aspect of Striving (Purgatorio) Journeying under the Aspect of Surpassing (Paradiso) 5 The Power of the Word: Issues in the Area of Language and Literature Being, Becoming and the Sanctity of the Word The Triumph and the Image and a Writerly Text Conclusion: In Conversation with Dante Further Reading Index of Names

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Book SynopsisCelebrates theextraordinary life of a flawed and lovable character, and provides a brief and accessible study of Hogg's works.

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Book SynopsisThis timely and expansive biography of Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian writer, Nobel laureate, and social activist, shows how the author's early years influence his life's work and how his writing, in turn, informs his political engagement. Three sections spanning his life, major texts, and place in history, connect Soyinka's legacy with global issues beyond the borders of his own country, and indeed beyond the African continent. Covering his encounters with the widespread rise of kleptocratic rule and international corporate corruption, his reflection on the human condition of the North-South divide, and the consequences of postcolonialism, this comprehensive biography locates Wole Soyinka as a global figure whose life and works have made him a subject of conversation in the public sphere, as well as one of Africa's most successful and popular authors. Looking at the different forms of Soyinka's work--plays, novels, and memoirs, among others--this volume argues that Soyinka used writing toTrade ReviewThis book is without any doubt well researched and offer very useful insight into the works and the environments that contributed to making Soyinka what he is today. The duo of Dauda and Falola have through this effort added their own to the body of rich and well-documented works that have come out to interpret Soyinka to his readers and make his work more accessible and understandable ... [T]he duo has contributed in no small way to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and understanding of Soyinka’s complex world. It is a book that should adorn bookshelves of libraries and institutions where serious intellectual work is done. Kudos to Dauda and Falola for this. * Naija Times *Wole Soyinka’s imprimatur on African literature was before his laureateship. This is an Exhibit A of his secular and scared creations whose cessation should come in his wishes, when Obatala, the Yoruba god of creations, calls him home. * Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Associate Director, Wole Soyinka Foundation (2017-2020), University of Johannesburg, South Africa *This book dares to unearth new truths about Wole Soyinka—and more importantly to ask new questions—and by so doing, unmasks the man, his politics, and his art. * E.C. Osondu, Professor of English, Providence College, USA, and Winner of the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing *This book is yet another worthy addition to scholarship on Wole Soyinka's massive oeuvre, written by profoundly genial, cerebral and authoritative voices on African and global Humanities. It is a must-read for all scholars, intellectuals, and change agents committed to the deployment of cultural and literary superstructure, through the example of the literary patriot Wole Soyinka. * Olufemi Obafemi, Professor of English and Dramatic Literature, University of Ilorin, Nigeria, and President of the Association of Nigerian Authors *Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments Preface PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT 1. Studies on Wole Soyinka 2. Wole Soyinka in Historical Perspective PART 2: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND 3. Abeokuta: The City of Innovations and Creativity 4. Collective Traditions, Childhood, and Rites of Passage 5. Nobel Laureate: Literary Scholarship and Nation-building 6. Relationships, Beliefs, and Values PART 3: LITERARY WORKS 7. Soyinka's Novels 8. Dramatic Oeuvre 9. Soyinka's Poetry 10. The Politics of Soyinka’s Literature PART 4: LEGACIES AND CONCLUSION 11. Soyinka’s Contribution to Literature 12. Soyinka’s Literary Achievements and the Use of Language 13. Conclusion: Will Soyinka’s Works Outlive Him? Bibliography Index

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