Rudyard Kipling

Paragon of English virtues or racist imperialist? This book tells the intricate story of a misunderstood genius who became Britain's most famous and highest earning author. It illuminates Kipling's crucial years in India, his parents' decision to send him back to England to boarding school; and in his adult life his use of opium, his frustrating times in London and the brief peace he found in America before the devastating loss of both his young daughter and, in the First World War, his son.

This biography is full of new material on Kipling's financial dealings with Lord Beaverbrook, his friendships with T E Lawrence, the painter Edward Burne-Jones and the Conservative politician and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin who was his cousin.