Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation

The definitive biography of Wilkie Collins: the Victorian novelist, playwright, author of The Moonstone and The Woman in White, who lived a life of sensation. In the spring of 1868 Wilkie Collins found himself living a nightmare that could have come straight out of one of his bestselling novels. A visitor to his comfortable London town-house would have found him propped up in bed, desperately dictating the latest chapter of his new book, The Moonstone. Visible above the bedclothes would have been Wilkie'’s large, friendly face, framed by straggly whiskers, with its strange bump on the left of his forehead making him look like a lop-sided Cyclops. Nearby in the flickering light would have stood a bottle of laudanum, his palliative draught of choice when he needed to alleviate his excruciating pain. The ostensible reason for his discomfort was gout, a long-standing affliction, but a host of other troubles bore down on him. The curious double life that Collins had concocted around himself was threatening to come tumbling down, tarnishing his respectable Victorian image. He had worked hard over the years to present himself as a bachelor clubman with bookish inclinations and, like his good friend Charles Dickens, would have been distraught by the idea that his intimate personal relationships could become public knowledge. Yet here was the famous author living secretly with two women, juggling a host of family problems and the possibility of scandal worthy of the racy Sensation fiction he penned. Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation is the first definitive biography of this brilliant, conflicted, complex man and an unforgettable portrait of a life lived in a cant-ridden Victorian world.

Lycett, Andrew

Biographies & Memoirs

Hutchinson

The definitive biography of Wilkie Collins: Victorian novelist, playright, author of The Moonstone and The Woman in White and owner of a secret double life. In the spring of 1868 Wilkie Collins found himself living a nightmare that could have come straight out of one of his bestselling novels. A visitor to his comfortable London town-house would have found him propped up in bed, desperately dictating the latest chapter of his new book, The Moonstone. Visible above the bedclothes would have been Wilkie's large, friendly face, framed by straggly whiskers, with its strange bump on the left of his forehead making him look like a lop-sided Cyclops. Nearby in the flickering light would have stood a bottle of laudanum, his palliative draught of choice when he needed to alleviate his excruciating pain. The ostensible reason for his discomfort was gout, a long-standing affliction, but a host of other troubles bore down on him. The curious double life that Collins had concocted around himself was threatening to come tumbling down, tarnishing his respectable Victorian image. He had worked hard over the years to present himself as a bachelor clubman with bookish inclinations and, like his good friend Charles Dickens, would have been distraught by the idea that his intimate personal relationships could become public knowledge. Yet here was the author living with family secrets and the possibility of scandal worthy of the racy Sensation fiction he penned. Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation is the first definitive biography of this brilliant, conflicted, complex man and an unforgettable portrait of a life lived in a cant-ridden Victorian world.

WINDMILL

Sportsman, womaniser,naval commander,traveller,spy, Flemings own life was an obvious backdrop for his stories of the renowned 007. This book provides an insightinto the very private life of the man himself.

Ian Fleming

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Rudyard Kipling

Paragon of English virtues or racist imperialist? Andrew Lycett (acclaimed biographer of Ian Fleming) has returned to primary sources to tell the intricate story of a misunderstood genius who became Britain’s most famous and highest earning author. Among the many new sources, Lycett has discovered previously unpublished letters that illuminate Kipling’s crucial years in India, his first girlfriend (the model for Mrs Hauksbee of Plain Tales from the Hills), his parents’ decision to send him back to England to boarding school; and in his adult life his use of opium, his frustrating times in London and the brief peace he found in America before the devastating loss of both his young daughter and, in the First World War, his son. 
Lycett also uncovers the extraordinary story of Kipling’s great love for Flo Garrard, daughter of the crown jeweller and unravels the complicated yet enthralling saga of the American family, the Balestiers and of Carrie Balestier who became Kipling’s wife.
This biography is full of new material on Kipling’s financial dealings with Lord Beaverbrook, his friendships with T.E. Lawrence, the painter Edward Burne-Jones and the Conservative politician and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin who was his cousin.
Lycett places Kipling in an historical and social context with the skills that lead Selina Hastings in the Sunday Telegraph to write of his Ian Fleming: `Superb ... This is an exemplary biography, beautifully written, fast-paced and extremely perceptive.'

Arts & Literature

This portrait of the controversial Libyan leader traces Qaddafi's childhood, his political career, and the origins of his policies and contains detailed descriptions of the operations of several Libyan hit teams

Qaddafi and the Libyan Revolution

Blundy, David

Leaders & Notable People

Little,Brown & Co

Dylan Thomas: A New Life

The Overlook Press

Questing was Sherlock Holmes's business.&nbsp;He famously adopted the latest forensic techniques, channelled the Victorian passion for enquiry, kept abreast of the key scientific breakthroughs of his age,&nbsp;and conducted his investigations in an enigmatic and stylised manner. And the brains behind it all was, of course, the great&nbsp;Arthur Conan Doyle. In this deep dive into the contemporary world of Holmes and Conan Doyle, biographer Andrew Lycett explores all that encompasses the world of the great detective&nbsp;- tracing the infamous character's own interests, personality and mythologised biography alongside that of his creator's. From the Victorian crazes for detection and séance, to contemporary developments in science and psychology,&nbsp;Lycett weaves together everything that inspired Conan Doyle in creating the world's most famous detective and one of fiction's most enduring, enigmatic and recognisable characters.

The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes: The Inspiration Behind the World's Greatest Detective

Frances Lincoln

Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognized the world over, for decades the man himself has been overshadowed by his better understood creation, Sherlock Holmes, who has become one of literature's most enduring characters. Based on thousands of previously unavailable documents, Andrew Lycett, author of the critically acclaimed biography Dylan Thomas, offers the first definitive biography of the baffling Conan Doyle, finally making sense of a long-standing mystery: how the scientifically minded creator of the world's most rational detective himself succumbed to an avid belief in spiritualism, including communication with the dead.
Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Always romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and fool-hardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his wayward, alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his nearly fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena. Lycett reveals the evolution of Conan Doyle's nature and ideas against the backdrop of his intense personal life, wider society and the intellectual ferment of his age. In response to the dramatic scientific and social transformations at the turn of the century, he rejected traditional religious faith in favor of psychics and séances -- and in this way he embodied all of his late-Victorian, early-Edwardian era's ambivalence about the advance of science and the decline of religion. 
The first biographer to gain access to Conan Doyle's newly released personal archive -- which includes correspondence, diaries, original manuscripts and more -- Lycett combines assiduous research with penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous author to ardent spiritualist.

The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Free Press

Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognized the world over, for decades the man himself has been overshadowed by his better understood creation, Sherlock Holmes, who has become one of literature's most enduring characters. Based on thousands of previously unavailable documents, Andrew Lycett, author of the critically acclaimed biography Dylan Thomas, offers the first definitive biography of the baffling Conan Doyle, finally making sense of a long-standing mystery: how the scientifically minded creator of the world's most rational detective himself succumbed to an avid belief in spiritualism, including communication with the dead. Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Always romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and fool-hardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his wayward, alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his nearly fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena. Lycett reveals the evolution of Conan Doyle's nature and ideas against the backdrop of his intense personal life, wider society and the intellectual ferment of his age. In response to the dramatic scientific and social transformations at the turn of the century, he rejected traditional religious faith in favor of psychics and seances - and in this way he embodied all of his late-Victorian, early-Edwardian era's ambivalence about the advance of science and the decline of religion. The first biographer to gain access to Conan Doyle's newly released personal archive - which includes correspondence, diaries, original manuscripts and more - Lycett combines assiduous research with penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous

Ground-breaking biography of the creator of fiction's best loved detective
Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognised the world over, for decades he was overshadowed by his creation, Sherlock Holmes - one of literature's most enduring characters. 
Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and foolhardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena.
Lycett combines access to new material with assiduous research and penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous author to ardent spiritualist.

Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lycett, Andrew. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lycett, Andrew

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lycett, Andrew. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation

Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation

Ian Fleming

Rudyard Kipling

Qaddafi and the Libyan Revolution

Dylan Thomas: A New Life

The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes: The Inspiration Behind the World's Greatest Detective

The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes