Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant - (Mint Editions (in Their Own Words: Biographical and Autobiographical Narratives)) (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant (1902) is a posthumously published autobiography by Walter Besant. Although he is more widely known for his works of fiction and book-length studies of the city of London, Besant was also a gifted autobiographer whose unique sense of self and rich memories make for an entertaining, informative read. "I am supposing that [man] has the choice offered him, together with an outline of the future-not a future of fate laid down with Calvinistic rigour, but a future of possibility. And as time, past or future, does not exist in the other world, I am supposing that a man can be born in any age that he pleases." The son of a merchant, Walter Besant would combine ambition with wit to become one of Victorian England's leading intellectual figures. His autobiography is not just the portrait of a man, but a record of a century that saw empires rise and fall, industry outpace agriculture, and the life of humanity change forever, for better or worse. Unsatisfied with the success and fame he found in his literary work, Besant dedicated himself to social causes and was a true champion of the poor in London and around the world.

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From the Back Cover

Although he is largely unspoken of today, Walter Besant was one of the nineteenth century's greatest minds, a novelist, historian, mathematician, and diplomat who played an integral part in shaping Victorian England's cultural and political reality. In the posthumously published Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant, he reflects on his humble upbringings and the ambition that brought him success.