Thomas Hardy

JAMES GIBSON

• Preface and Acknowledgements - Bibliography - Phase the First: Preparing to be a Writer (1842-1870) - Phase the Second: The Novelist (1840-1897) - Phase the Third: The Poet (1898-1928) - Index

'Gibson is the magister ludi of Hardy studies...Gibson brings to Hardy's life the weight of his own history, expertise and variegated Hardy knowledge. The book is continually alive with interest, matured judgement and sheer delight in a novelist and poet whom Gibson dearly loves.' - Dennis Taylor, The Thomas Hardy Journal 'What makes the reading of Gibson's book even more arresting is the author's sure grasp of the artist's multi-layered universe. He is the authoritative guide confidently leading the reader along the many literary and biographical pathways that converge and separate along the vast panorama of a life fully lived.' - Francesco Marroni, Rivista di Studi Vittoriani '...this, of all the biographries, is the one to recommend to students, this being our Literary Life.' - Professor Michael Irwin, Oxford Reader's Companion to Thomas Hardy