Sir Walter Raleigh: in Life and Legend

by Mark Nicholls (Author), PenryWilliams (Author)

New
Hardcover
2011
$91.68

New biography of one of the key figures in British history focusing on both his writing and legacy. Sir Walter Raleigh is a figure writ large in popular imagination. Yet how can we understand this man who was soldier, voyager, visionary, courtier, politician, poet, historian, patriot and 'traitor'? We know some facts, and much can be learned from Raleigh's prose and poetry about his ideas, personality, feelings and values. Important new texts of his works have recently been published: we now possess reliable versions of his poems, his letters and his travel narratives. No biography of Raleigh, however, can be complete without an assessment of his posthumous reputation. Myths that accumulated around him tell us something about the man himself, but far more about the perceptions of his own and subsequent generations. Raleigh's talents as a writer ensured his positive legacy, but the appropriation of his legend for so many differing political uses has left us with a complex picture. In this original and important new biography Williams and Nicholls set this right.

Synopsis

New biography of one of the key figures in British history focusing on both his writing and legacy. Sir Walter Raleigh is a figure writ large in popular imagination. Yet how can we understand this man who was soldier, voyager, visionary, courtier, politician, poet, historian, patriot and 'traitor'? We know some facts, and much can be learned from Raleigh's prose and poetry about his ideas, personality, feelings and values. Important new texts of his works have recently been published: we now possess reliable versions of his poems, his letters and his travel narratives. No biography of Raleigh, however, can be complete without an assessment of his posthumous reputation. Myths that accumulated around him tell us something about the man himself, but far more about the perceptions of his own and subsequent generations. Raleigh's talents as a writer ensured his positive legacy, but the appropriation of his legend for so many differing political uses has left us with a complex picture. In this original and important new biography Williams and Nicholls set this right.

$91.68

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Publisher: Continuum Publishing Corporation
Published: 10 Feb 2011
ISBN 10: 144111209X
ISBN 13: 9781441112095

Media Reviews

'This is a thorough biography.'--John Hinton Catholic Herald
Nicholls and Williams seek to dismember many myths that have grown around Raleigh yet in a book of great depth probe the ambitious and adventurous character of a man who was deeply interested in the New World... a tribute to [Raleigh] and his absorbing life.--The Oxford Times
'This is a thorough biography.'--John Hinton The Catholic Herald
'With this landmark book, Mark Nicholls and Penry Williams debunk the legends, giving us instead a story that is all the more engrossing for its sophistication.' --Sanford Lakoff
'Even in our own times, Ralegh has hardly lacked for either scholarly or popular interpreters, this new biography, learned and accessible in equal measure, is nonetheless highly welcome. It will surely become the standard starting point for any one interested in his career and writings.' --Sanford Lakoff
'There is so much more to Ralegh, more than one column or one book can cover. But Nicholls and Williams have given us a set of Ralegh stories that could keep us busy for a lifetime.'--Sanford Lakoff
Nicholls and Williams are excellent on the narrative... they really come into their own in the accounts of the in-fighting at court and the way they bring out Ralegh's charisma and his duplicity.--Sanford Lakoff

Author Bio

Penry Williams is Emeritus Professor of History at New College, Oxford. Mark Nicholls is President and Librarian of St John's College, Cambridge.