Dora Carrington, Mark Gertler, Paul Nash, Christopher Nevinson and Stanley Spencer were five of the most important British artists of the twentieth century. From diverse backgrounds, they met at The Slade in London between 1908 and 1910, in what was later described as the School's ?last crisis of brilliance'. Between 1910 and 1918 they loved, talked and fought; they admired, conspired and sometimes disparaged each others' artistic creations. They created new movements; they frequented the most stylish cafés and restaurants and founded a night-club; they slept with their models and prostitutes; their love affairs descended into obsession, murder and suicide. AUTHOR: David Boyd Haycock is a curator at the National Maritime Museum. His previous book, A Mortal Coil, was published by Yale University Press. REVIEWS: "A frolic and gallop through four centuries of engagement with ageing, death, and fantasies of rejuvenation." George Rousseau "Haycock's narrative teems with colourful characters and dramatic detail." - Simon May, author of The Philosophy of Love "Western scientists long ago set out to find the key to immortality?a quest that David Boyd Haycock chronicles with wit and learning in The Mortal Coil." Wall Street Journal *