Byron: A Portrait

(Paperback)

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The definitive, one-volume biography of Byron, impeccably researched and hailed as a classic. This is the short biography par excellence ' Sunday Times It is his clear-sightedness, his candour, his steely strength of will, the immediacy of his writing, his insolence and cynicism, his love of liberty, his hatred of hypocrisy, his originality, his rational enlightened toughness which attached Byron to the present age as much as to his own. Leslie Marchand's profound knowledge of his subject is unrivalled. His superb biography gives us an engrossing and utterly convincing portrait of a genius - a man who more than any other, fulfilled in his brillance, passion and creativity, the ideal of the Romantic Hero. One cannot but be won over by the sensitive, infinitely complex which Leslie Marchand uncovers. . . he gives us the essential Byron. . The spell of this strange, unquiet, blazingly honest and infinitely endearing man, is powerful ' Selina Hastings. Daily Telegraph

Reviews

For the first time I feel that I can really come to a conclusion about the man, the creator of one of the greatest legends in the history of our civilisation. Napoleon is hardly more celebrated; and Byron, like the Corsican, is not less alive now than during his lifetime... Mr Marchand's is the most balanced portrait that we have of this eternally fascinating being, and the most sympathetic. -- Terence de Vere White * Irish Times *
One cannot but be won over by the sensitive, infinitely complex reality which Leslie Marchand uncovers...he gives us the essential Byron...The spell of this strange, unquiet, blazingly honest and infinitely endearing man, is powerful. -- Selina Hastings * Daily Telegraph *
Here is his life, recorded in meticuloous detail, drawn with affection, great erudition and a critical eye. -- Joanna Richardson * Sunday Telegraph *
An incisive narrative which I found as compelling as if I had never read a book about Byron before and every circumstance were new to me...The short biography par excellence. -- Doris Langley Moore * Sunday Times *

Author Bio

Leslie Marchand studied at the Universities of Washington and Columbia, the Sorbonne and the University of Munich. He is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Rutgers University. His publications include The Athenaeum- A Mirror of Victorian Culture, Byron's Poetry- A Critical Introduction; and, as editor, Selected Poetry of Lord Byron, Byron's 'Don Juan' and Byron's Letters and Journals (12 vols).