Byron, a self-portrait

This two-volume set presents a collection of the personal, written correspondence of Lord Byron (1788-1824). Literary legend has it that Byron left behind the beginnings of an autobiography, but that his publisher destroyed it after his death because he found it too shocking. The author of this book comes as close as anyone can to salvaging what was lost by the alleged actions of one overcautious publisher. Drawing on letters from Byron's pre-Harrow days to those written in the weeks before his death, this work pieces together the extraordinary story of Byron's life as told by himself. As Byron records his thoughts as a schoolboy, man-of-the-world, rake and womanizer, literary sensation, and poet-in-exile, he reveals the rebellious, warm-hearted, disorderly, fun-loving, and neurotic sides to his private character. This 2-volume set conveys how his writing, veering from racy vulgarity to polished eloquence, vividly evokes the worlds in which he lived -- London and Venetian high society, the Swiss and Italian countryside, and the Greek war tents at Missolonghi. It also includes Byron's journals reprinted in full.