F.M. Alexander the Coming Man: An Intellectual Biography of the Originator of ""the Alexander Technique

by Mace. Rodney

F. M. Alexander gave his name to the "Alexander Technique", frequently described as "an effective way of physical and mental reeducation" and now widely practiced in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Recent surveys in both the U.S. and the U.K. show record numbers of people seeking help from complementary medicine. Alexander's technique has come to hold a leading place amongst holistic practices. Many complementary therapies have a tendency to maintain a closed stance to the outside world. The Alexander Technique is in no way different. Alexander is particularly protected, with several hagiographies published since his death.In this biographical portrait, Alexander emerges as a complex figure. Born in Tasmania, Australia, his grandfather was one of the many convicts shipped to that continent by the British in the early nineteenth century. The brutalizing life of convict society created a cultural legacy from which Alexander was eventually to draw many of his ideas. In adulthood he moved to London where he began to develop his technique and also made strenuous efforts to cultivate the support and interest of famous people. The book reveals just how much his technique was influenced by Victorian notions of religion, improvement, and the predominant science of race culture. It also charts his close association with John Dowey, George Bernard Shaw, and Aldous Huxley.

250 pages, Hardcover