Byron

This critical and imaginative portrait of the most colorful figure of the Romantic movement has been considered one of André Maurois' most successful works. He makes the most of his opportunity to explore the life and personality of a man of violent contrasts who was in a relatively brief lifetime impassioned poet, notorious lover, fervid democrat and revolutionary -- George Gordon, Lord Byron. Starting with a thorough and often unflattering study of Byron's family background, the author brilliantly reconstructs his life, character and thoughts, his relationship with his friends, and especially with his wife and his half sister, Augusta Leigh. The result is a beautifully proportioned account of Byron the man and the artist. -- From publisher's description.