Ford Madox Ford

(Paperback)

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Ford Madox Ford (18731939) lived among several of the most important artists and writers of his time. Raised by Pre-Raphaelites and friends with Henry James, H. G. Wells, and Joseph Conrad, Ford was a leading figure of the avant-garde in pre-WWI London, responsible for publishing Ezra Pound, Wyndham Lewis, and D. H. Lawrence. After the war, he moved to Paris, published Gertrude Stein, and discovered Ernest Hemingway. A prolific writer in his own right, Ford wrote the modernist triumph The Good Soldier (1915) as well as one of the finest war stories in English, the Parades End tetralogy (19241928). Drawing on newly discovered letters and photographs, this critical biography further demonstrates Fords vital contribution to modern fiction, poetry, and criticism.

'We need this subtle, astute, witty and insightful biography of one of the major writers of the twentieth century. Saunders is passionate about Fords writing and guides us through his novels with masterful panache. Ford emerges as a man deeply enmeshed in the artistic currents of his times but always divided against himself, living perilously across epochs as he turned impressions into truths.' Lara Feigel, Kings College London

'Saunders firmly places the sometimes elusive Ford Madox Ford at the epicenter of British modernism. In so doing, he has not only written a scintillating and intimate life of a key literary figure and his work but given us a panorama of the greats that peopled his epoch. This is the best kind of biography: astute, erudite, and eminently readable.' Lisa Appignanesi OBE, writer and novelist

'The analysis is sharp...[and] testifies to the talents of a literary master of the modernist era.' Publishers Weekly

Reviews

"The analysis is sharp . . . [and] testifies to the talents of a literary master of the modernist era."-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Saunders is the doyen of Ford scholars, and this new biography serves to enhance that reputation. It not only untangles the intellectual complexities behind the work of a major British Modernist, but adds a layer of cutting-edge research. The recent discovery of a cache of letters between Ford and his last partner, the painter Janice Biala, provides new evidence to analyze his 'politics.' What emerges is an image of a thoroughly modern, apolitical feminist and 'Green', self-reflexive in his thinking, a postmodern writer long before postmodernism became fashionable.--Martin Stannard, University of Leicester, author of 'Muriel Spark: The Biography'
"\Saunders firmly places the sometimes elusive Ford Madox Ford at the epicenter of British modernism. In so doing, he has not only written a scintillating and intimate life of a key literary figure and his work but given us a panorama of the greats that peopled his epoch. This is the best kind of biography: astute, erudite, and eminently readable."--Lisa Appignanesi OBE, writer and novelist
"We need this subtle, astute, witty and insightful biography of one of the major writers of the twentieth century. Saunders is passionate about Ford's writing and guides us through his novels with masterful panache. Ford emerges as a man deeply enmeshed in the artistic currents of his times but always divided against himself, living perilously across epochs as he turned impressions into truths."--Lara Feigel, King's College London

Author Bio

Max Saunders is Interdisciplinary Professor of Modern Literature and Culture at the University of Birmingham, and his books include Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life (1996).