The Hidden Wordsworth

The Hidden Wordsworth

by Kenneth R Johnston (Author)

Synopsis

The lives of the Romantic poets have been examined mainly through the evidence they have left behind: letters, journals, diaries, and their own self-revealing poems and essays. In the case of William Wordsworth, that evidence is massive, but it often obscures the real person behind the writings. In this fascinating account, Kenneth R. Johnston portrays a Wordsworth different in crucial ways from the one that the poet intended us to know. Taking advantage of unprecedented access to archives, family papers and intimate letters, he reveals, for example, the poet's complex relationship with his sister Dorothy; the true story of his affair with Annette Vallon during his year in France in 1791-92, the impact of her frank eroticism on his poetry, and his clandestine trip back to her at the beginning of the Reign of Terror; and, perhaps most intriguing of all, Wordsworth's surprisingly close connections to the political establishment of his day, including members of the newly formed British Secret Service in London and Germany. This brilliantly insightful biography breaks through the carefully crafted but frequently misleading accounts of his youth that Wordsworth created in his conservative later years. The Hidden Wordsworth reveals the radical young poet whose fiery intellect revolutionized English poetry.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 720
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Pimlico
Published: 07 Sep 2000

ISBN 10: 0712667520
ISBN 13: 9780712667524
Book Overview: 'Another book about the great man? By an American professor of English? It had better be good. It is, in fact, outstanding' - The Times

Media Reviews
Fascinating...This magnificent life deserves to be read by the general reader as well as the scholar. The Wordsworth it gives us is no longer hidden , but largely, I believe, the real one -- Lachlan Mackinnon * Independent *
The most important contribution to English literary biography this year -- Paul Johnson * Sunday Telegraph *
A terrific new biography...it recaptures the light in Wordsworth's eyes and puts the spring back in his stride -- Blake Morrison * Independent on Sunday *
Careful and provocative...The Hidden Wordsworth has pace, commands respect and draws in the reader -- Melvyn Bragg * Observer *
A very impressive biography...utterly engrossing -- Andrew Motion * Guardian *
Author Bio
Kenneth R. Johnston is Ruth N. Halls Professor of English Emeritus at Indiana University. He is the author of Wordsworth and 'The Recluse' (1984), Romantic Revolutions: Theory and Criticism (1989); and Unusual Suspects: Pitt's Reign of Alarm and the Lost Generation of the 1970s, as well as numerous articles on Wordsworth and other Romantic poets. Among other honours, he has held Guggenheim, Fulbright adn National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships, as well as distinguished teaching awards from Indiana University. The Hidden Wordsworth was awarded the 1998 Jean Baracelli Prize of the American Conference on Romanticism adn selected as a 'Notable Book of 1999' by the New York Times.