Published to coincide with the centenary of Cary's birth, this biography covers this English novelist's life from birth into a major, but declining Anglo-Irish family to his experiences of Bohemianism in Oxford and Paris and his first taste of war in the Balkans. He examines Cary's years as a colonial administrator in Nigeria and follows his career through to the full flowering of his fame with the publication of "The Horse's Mouth" in 1944, and then to his later family years in Oxford where he enjoyed the friendship and respect of some of the foremost literary figures of his time. He reveals the character to be one of the most independent and elusive figures in 20th century literature. Alan Bishop is editor of Joyce Carey's "Cock Jarvis" and "Selected Essays" and has spent more than 10 years researching Cary's writing.