“Something like unanimous opinion now holds Richard Holmes to be our best living biographer.”–The Wall Street Journal
“No one explores biography’s metaphysical or for that matter technical aspects better than HolmesÉ. His books read like shouts of joy.”–New York Times Book Review
“These pieces undeniably confirm why Holmes has been setting new and challenging standards for how biographers approach their subjects, and they make for glorious reading indeed.”–Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
I. A Romantic Premontion
Introduction
Thomas Chatteron
II. Lost in France
Introduction
Monsieur Nadar
Gautier in London
Poor Pierrot
Inside the Tower
III. Five Gothic Shadows
Introduction
The Singular Affair of the Reverend Mr Barham
The Reverend Maturin and Mr Melmoth
M. R. James and Others
John Stuart Mill
Lord Lisle and the Tudor Nixon Tapes
IV. A Philosophical Love Story
Introduction
The Feminist and the Philosopher: A Love Story
V. Shelley’s Ghost
Introduction
Scrope’s Last Throw
To the Tempest Given
VI. Escapes to Paris
Introduction
Scott and Zelda: One Last Trip
A Summer with the Novelist
Letters from Paris
Voltaire’s Grin
VII. Homage to the Godfather
Introduction
Boswell’s Bicentenary
Boswell Among the Tulips
Dr. Johnson’s First Cat
