Lives for Sale Biographers' Tales

Biography is well recognized as a peculiarly British vice. Here in this new anthology is a collection of essays, never published before, by some of the best biographers now writing. They tell of the ups and downs of life writing: of problems with families and friends of their subjects, and of shocking new discoveries. Essays in favour of biography, others that describe disenchantment with an attempt to capture another human being in the pages of a book. Published in the autumn of 2004--to coincide with the appearance of the most important British publishing enterprise of the new century to date, the New Dictionary of National Biography--Lives for Sale is full of amusing anecdotes and fascinating experiences retold by some of the masters of the form, including Claire Tomalin, Michael Holroyd, Fiona MacCarthy, Graham Robb, Ben Pimlott, Andrew Roberts, Hermione Lee, Richard Holmes, Antonia Fraser, as well as contributions from the rising generation.