Description
Book Synopsis'As good as being in the gallery. Enthralling.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times
The original transcript of the famous Wilde vs Queensberry trial, containing previously unseen details and exchanges. With extensive footnotes and a new introduction, this definitive account is a dramatic read that will delight Wilde enthusiasts and the general reader.
Trade Review'The most sensational trial of the 19th century. Merlin Holland has produced a gripping and fascinating volume that entirely supersedes previous accounts of the Queensberry trial. Along with a number of unfamiliar biographical details and intriguing glimpses into his private life, it gives us, for the first time, a real sense of how Wilde actually spoke in conversation. As a work of dramatic legal literature it ranks with Plato's account of the trial of Socrates. While Wilde failed to make life conform to the laws of his own writing, he did at least succeed in turning one of the most important episodes in his biography into a kind of art.' Daily Telegraph
'We can now watch the drama unfold, as the prosecution of Queensberry is aborted and Wilde becomes the figure under pressure, his clever replies and elegant evasions proving no match for the terrier-like persistence of Edward Henry Carson QC.' Independent
'Wilde seems to have run into the arms of his own destruction. He had tasted fame, and success, and wealth. He wanted the complete life, which would encompass shame and infamy as well as glory and applause. They may all be discovered in this book.' The Times
