HESSE
It was Colin Wilson's Outsider that first put me onto Hermann Hesse – I read most of his famous novels, and in the 1980s while…… Read More »
Category: Biography
The Ascent of John Tyndall
This highly readable and fascinating biography is the first for over 70 years of John Tyndall (1822 – 1893) a Victorian scientist who was also…… Read More »
Albert Schweitzer – A Biography
As far as I know, this is the first biography of Albert Schweitzer for some time. I have read most of the earlier ones, including…… Read More »
Voltaire
While at St Andrews during the 1970s, Voltaire was one of my set authors, and I wrote an essay on him and Bertrand Russell for…… Read More »
Montaigne – A Life
Not only is this the definitive biography of the 16th century French essayist, but it also firmly places the essays within the political and social…… Read More »
Marconi
Subtitled 'the man who networked the world', this is the first really major biography of Marconi, and it is an extraordinary achievement. Marconi emerges as…… Read More »
Erasmus of Christendom
This is a welcome republication of a classic biography of Erasmus (1466-1536), who was one of the most sought-after advisers of his age to Kings,…… Read More »
GOETHE
In 1878, Matthew Arnold wrote of Goethe (1749-1832) that he was 'in the width, depth, and richness of his criticism of life, by far our…… Read More »
Charles Williams: The Third Inkling
Grevel Lindop's new and excellent biography opens with Charles Williams, who, by poverty, was forced to abandon his formal education at seventeen, lecturing to spellbound,…… Read More »
WOUNDED HEALER OF THE SOUL
I imagine that C.G. Jung has exerted a considerable influence on many readers of this Review – this is certainly true in my own case.…… Read More »