The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley

BLACKWELL CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES General Editor - Claude Rawson "John Worthen's literary biography is beautifully written, thoughtful, compact, and well-researched. Firmly grounded in the facts of Shelley's mundane existence (it goes more deeply into the intricacies of his finances than any biography I have read) it never forgets that the reason for our interest in these is that he was a great poet and prose writer. Here will be found stimulating re-evaluations, fresh insights, and provocation. But even when readers disagree with the conclusions he draws from the evidence, they will rise from this book braced, moved, and with a renewed sense of the exceptional nature of Shelley's career and of his extraordinary genius." Nora Crook, Anglia Ruskin University Drawing on the many scholarly discoveries of recent years, this biography examines the life and death of one of the greatest Romantic poets. Based on sceptical historical investigation and featuring an in-depth look at Shelley's personal, financial and familial situation, John Worthen builds a compelling narrative about a controversial writer and thinker whose personal and philosophical convictions caused much turmoil during his short yet extraordinarily influential life. The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley Takes into account - the first biography to do so - Shelley's recently discovered poem, the Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things Examines his poetry, letters, notebooks and discursive prose, allowing readers access to the most intimate and important concerns of his life Explores the financial and medical grounds for his years in exile Offers readers a unique look at a famous poet, scholar, gentleman, democrat, atheist and tragic icon of English Romanticism.