Non-Fiction:

Robert Graves: Life on the Edge

Robert Graves (1895-1985) was one of the greatest poets and polymaths of the twentieth century whose long life matched the intensity of his imaginative output. From his distinguished exploits in the First World War, described in his memoir Goodbye to All That, to his dramatic relationships with women, most notably the American poet and essayist Laura Riding, his life was one of extremes: he sought pain, took huge emotional risks, and lived as if each day was his last.

He will also be remembered for his historical novels, I Claudius and Claudius the God; for his remarkble exploration of the poetic impulse, The white goddess; and for his The Greek Myths.

This new biography is published to mark the centenary of Graves's birth. The Graves family have chosen to give their full co-operation to Miranda Seymour who has had full access to previously unseen papers and photographs. Her research has also uncovered many important letters in private and public collections. Her interviews and correspondence with many people who have not previously discussed Graves in public contribute to a rich and complex protrait of an extraordinary and troubled man and a great creative artist.

"I have never been able to understand the contention that a poet's life is irrelevant to his work," Graves said. No other poet has made a more determined - and dangerous - attempt to live as he believed a poet should, at the mercy of an all-powerful source of inspiration. Few other poets can have had such an exact understanding of their own limits, and tested them with such relentless courage. Miranda Seymour puts Graves's statement to the test in this superb biography and, thrillingly, demonstrates its validity.

"It is Miranda Seymour's Robert Graves: Life on the Edge that I would recommend first." The Times Educational Supplement

"Lucid and beautifully written." The Tablet

"This sympathetic study of an egocentric, monstrous lovable genius is beautifully written." Literary Review

Buy Robert Graves: Life on the Edge HERE