Shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
National Books Critics Circle Award Winner
“Fabulously entertaining, deft and witty.” Philip Hensher, Spectator
“A brilliant anatomy of modern biography.” Michael Holroyd
“Sisman’s book is a treat…it has a clarity and a dramatic dynamic that makes it hard to put down.” Hilary Spurling, Daily Telegraph
Published in the UK by Hamish Hamilton/Penguin, 2000