Principles of Biography (Classic Reprint): The Leslie Stephen Lecture Delivered in the Senate House, Cambridge, on 13 May 1911: The Leslie Stephen ... Cambridge, on 13 May 1911 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

What makes a biography endure? A clear guide to the craft
This concise, thoughtful work traces the aims, methods, and limits of biography as a literary art. It contrasts biography with history, and explains how a biographer must balance subject matter with the way it is told to endure for future readers.

The author surveys principles that help a biography stand the test of time—from selecting worthy subjects to choosing a treatment that respects truth and personality. Through reflections on Plutarch, Boswell, and other pillars of the field, the book clarifies how to reveal character and achievement without resorting to mere praise or distraction.

• How to determine a fit theme that is serious, complete, and meaningful after the subject’s life ends.


• Why complete, well-structured storytelling matters more than length or sensational detail.


• How to use sources, perspective, and honest candour to capture personality.


• Where biography meets ethics, history, and science, and where it should keep to its own limits.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.