John Haffenden. William Empson, Volume I: Among the Mandarins

Professor Haffenden has treated us to what can be seen in many ways as an Empsonian monument to Empson himself — a stunning demonstration of the power of intellectual biography that possesses an energy and variety that the bard himself would have admired. This handsome first volume of the definitive biography of William Empson comes complete with an efficient system of abbreviations, a detailed and intelligent chronology, and a useful table of illustrations (though one hopes there will be a g...