• Looks at the origins and development of biographical writing
• Considers why certain historical periods and figures arouse so much interest
• Looks at the relationship between biographies, history and fiction
• Examines the impact of religion on the development and direction of biographies
• Reveals the ways in which biographers write their stories - from the start and close, to the tone they use, and the rhetorical devices they employ

Readership: General readers with literary interests, writers, historians, literary critics, and literature students.

Hermione Lee, Wolfson College, Oxford

"It would be hard to think of anyone better to provide a crisp contribution to OUP's Very Short Introductions." - Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian

"A sophisticated overview for the general reader." - Andrew Lycett, Literary Review

"Enjoyable book on the subject." - Henry Power, TLS

1: The Biography Channel
2: Exemplary Lives
3: Warts and All
4: National Biography
5: Fallen Idols
6: Against Biography
7: Public Roles
8: Telling the Story

'meet the Author' on video