In this absorbing account of Johnson's private life, his work, pleasures and pronouncements, Christopher Hibbert has drawn upon every known contemporary source. We are given intimate glimpses of Johnson at every stage of his fascinating career- from the already highly eccentric schoolboy in Lichfield to the poor, truculent Oxford undergraduate; from the young husband of a florid widow, 20 years his senior to Grub Street hack; and finally, the near legendary figure, living in a substantial house off Fleet Street and presiding over a court of admirers and a perpetual stream of visitors. 'An excellent and entirely original study'. SUNDAY TIMES 'Endlessly facinating. . . . a wholly delightful and rewarding book'. SPECTATOR