
Sir Walter Raleigh
In Life and Legend
Continuum Publishing Corporation
Published on 31. March 2011
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-1-4411-1209-5 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
While the authors have the luxury of footnotes and the skill to do proper academic research they have the good fortune to be able to write for a general audience... An excellent biography. -- Contemporary Review, Volume 293, No. 1702 Every stage of [Raleigh's] life, works and reputation is carefully anatomized by Nicholls and Williams, and their biography will bring him vividly before new generations of readers. -- The Times Literary Supplement Featured in London Review of Books, Volume 34, Number 5. [Ralegh's career is] described with immense care and judiciousness by Mark Nicholls and Penry Williams in what will surely become the standard biography. -- London Review of Books '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.' -- The Sunday Times '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.' -- Literary Review '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.' -- thepilot.com 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 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. -- History Today This is a thorough biography. -- John Hinton * Catholic Herald * A man of middling birth, boundless enterprise, prodigious talent, sparkling charisma, and overweening ambition, Sir Walter Raleigh is a great subject for a great biography. Here it is. Stylishly written, judicious in its verdicts, based on archival research and the latest scholarship, this book, by a pair of Oxbridge dons, probes the infighting at court, grand affairs of state, religious and cultural developments, and Raleigh's literary achievement with equal rigor and acuity. -- Benjamin Schwarz is The Atlantic's literary editor and national editor * The Atlantic's Books of the Year * Overall, Nicholls and Williams have produced an incredibly readable biography which analyzes several aspects of this enigmatic figure who paid the ultimate price for his ambitions at court. -- Cheryl Fury * The Northern Mariner/ Le marin du nord *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
18
Dimensions
Height: 243 mm
Width: 167 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
763 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4411-1209-5 (9781441112095)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2011
1st Edition
Continuum Publishing Corporation
€66.49
Available for download

E-Book
01/2011
1st Edition
Continuum Publishing Corporation
€66.49
Available for download
Persons
Penry Williams is Emeritus Professor of History at New College, Oxford. Mark Nicholls is President and Librarian of St John's College, Cambridge.
Content
Contents; Preface; Abbreviations; List of Maps; List of Illustrations; The Devon Man; The Favourite; Roanoke; The Outcast; El Dorado; The Rival; The Court Poet; The Suspect; The Traitor; The Prisoner; The Tower Writings; i The Tracts; ii. The Great History; iii. The Dialogue of Counsel; The Last Voyage; The Martyr; The Legacy; An Epilogue.