Patrick O'Brian by Nikolai Tolstoy
The defintive account of the early life of the revered author of the Aubrey-Maturin novels including Master and Commander. Nikolai Tolstoy was O'Brian's stepson and his acquaintanceship with him lasted forty-five years during most of O'Brian's marriage to Mary Tolstoy, Nikolai's mother.
Tolstoy's book is not the horror Patrick might have fearedNeither hagiography nor hatchet job, it is a balanced, revealing, critical yet sympathetic account. Furthermore, it lives up to its subtitle. * The Spectator *
one of the most gripping literary biographies of recent years * Sunday Times *
Tolstoy corrects errors of fact and representation and paints a much fuller picture * Sunday Telegraph *
Don't be daunted by detail: Tolstoy writes with that passion to understand that characterises the best biographies. * Books of the Year, The Spectator *
Reading Tolstoy is like reading a fine, detailed detective story; the meticulousness of his research is wholly admirable. But what is most striking is the delicate skill with which he parallels O' Brian's self and experiences, daring persuasively to link imagined events and characters to the realities of the world that the writer inhabited.... This first volume of Tolstoy's biography is brilliantly invasive, and to be treasured because it exposes and rebuts much falseness that has been written about O' Brian. * The Times *
one of the most gripping literary biographies of recent years * Sunday Times *
Tolstoy corrects errors of fact and representation and paints a much fuller picture * Sunday Telegraph *
Don't be daunted by detail: Tolstoy writes with that passion to understand that characterises the best biographies. * Books of the Year, The Spectator *
Reading Tolstoy is like reading a fine, detailed detective story; the meticulousness of his research is wholly admirable. But what is most striking is the delicate skill with which he parallels O' Brian's self and experiences, daring persuasively to link imagined events and characters to the realities of the world that the writer inhabited.... This first volume of Tolstoy's biography is brilliantly invasive, and to be treasured because it exposes and rebuts much falseness that has been written about O' Brian. * The Times *
Nikolai Tolstoy is a highly recognised historian and biographer. His works include The Quest for Merlin, The Minister and the Massacres, The Night of the Long Knives, Victims of Yalta, and Stalin's Secret War.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780099415848 |
| ISBN 10 | 0099415844 |
| Title | Patrick O'Brian |
| Author | Nikolai Tolstoy |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Cornerstone |
| Year published | 2005-10-06 |
| Number of pages | 544 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |