Eternal Boy: The Life of Kenneth Grahame - Hardcover

Dennison, Matthew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1786697734 ISBN 13: 9781786697738

Publisher: Head of Zeus, 2018

Synopsis

During the week Kenneth Grahame sat behind a mahogany desk as Secretary of the Bank of England; at the weekend he retired to the house in the country he shared with his fanciful wife Elspeth and fragile son Alistair and took lengthy walks along the Thames in Berkshire, 'tempted [by] the treasures of hedge and ditch; the rapt surprise of the first lords-and-ladies, the rustle of a field-mouse, the splash of a frog'.

The result of these pastoral wanderings was The Wind in the Willows: an enduring classic of children's literature; a cautionary tale for adult readers; a warning of the fragility of the English countryside; and an expression of fear at threatened social changes that, in the aftermath of the World War I, became reality. Like its remarkable author, it balances maverick tendencies with conservatism. Graham was an Edwardian pantheist whose work has a timeless appeal, an escapist whose withdrawal from reality took the form of time travel into his own past.

About this title

Review:

PRAISE FOR OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY:
'Fascinating ... [A] clever, searching account' The Times.
'Finely written and dancingly quick' TLS.
'[A] beautifully produced biography unveils Potter as ahead of her time' --Country Life

Book Description:

The story of Kenneth Grahame, author of the children's classic Wind in the Willows, and of the vision of English pastoral that inspired it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1786697734
• ISBN 13: 9781786697738
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304