Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited

Michael Millgate's classic biography of Thomas Hardy, was first published in 1982. Much new information about Hardy has since become available, often in volumes edited or co-edited by Millgate himself, and many established assumptions have been challenged and revolutionized by scholarly research. In this extensively revised, fully reconsidered, and considerably-expanded new edition Millgate, the world's leading Hardy scholar, draws not only upon these new materials but upon an exceptional understanding of Hardy gained from long immersion in the study of his life and work. Many large and small aspects of Hardy's life are here freshly illuminated, including his family background, his fumbling self-education as a poet, his difficult relations with his first wife and hers with his family, his sexual infatuations, his secret collaborations with aspiring women writers, his clandestine composition of his own official biography, and the memory-invoking techniques by which he sustained his remarkable creativity into extreme old age. Thorough, authoritative and eminently readable, Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited will become the standard life of Hardy for a new generation.

Michael Millgate's classic biography of Thomas Hardy, was first published in 1982. Much new information about Hardy has since become available, often in volumes edited or co-edited by Millgate himself, and many established assumptions have been challenged and revolutionized by scholarly research. In this extensively revised, fully reconsidered, and considerably-expanded new edition Millgate, the world's leading Hardy scholar, draws not only upon these new materials but upon an exceptional understanding of Hardy gained from long immersion in the study of his life and work. Many large and small aspects of Hardy's life are here freshly illuminated, including his family background, his fumbling self-education as a poet, his difficult relations with his first wife and hers with his family, his sexual infatuations, his secret collaborations with aspiring women writers, his clandestine composition of his own official biography, and the memory-invoking techniques by which he sustained his remarkable creativity into extreme old age. Thorough, authoritative and eminently readable, Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited will become the standard life of Hardy for a new generation.

Library Journal

In this expanded and extensively revised edition of his 1982 biography of Thomas Hardy, Millgate (English, emeritus, Univ. of Toronto) incorporates such fresh details as Hardy's family background, fumbling self-education as a poet, difficult relations with his first wife and hers with his family, sexual infatuations, secret collaboration with aspiring women writers, and clandestine composition of his own official biography (omitting significant events), as well as the techniques he employed to sustain his creativity into old age. Moreover, this edition draws upon Millgate's insights into and understanding of the great literary master that he has studied over 40 years. Millgate's account of Hardy's relationships and how they went into the making of Tess, Jude, and other novels is particularly edifying. References and 60 black-and-white illustrations are included. Recommended for Hardy students and scholars, especially those having a biographical interest, and for general readers. Aparna Zambare, Central Michigan Univ. Libs., Mount Pleasant Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Michael Millgate was born in England and educated at Cambridge University, before doing a PhD in American literature at Leeds. He moved to the University of Toronto in 1967, where he devoted his time to studying the life and works of Thomas Hardy. He has edited seven volumes of Hardy's letters, and the selected letters of his wives.