The Laird of Abbotsford: A View of Sir Walter Scott

by A.N. Wilson

Examining all of Scott's best-known books as well as many less familiar works, this critical biography offers a lively and provocative reassessment of the writer who was often considered "the greatest single imaginative genius of the nineteenth century." A.N. Wilson shows how Scott combined
his life as a prolific novelist, poet, biographer, historian, and anthologist with that of a lawyer, landowner, border farmer, part-time soldier and paterfamilias . He also discusses the general indifference that has surrounded Scott in this century and reveals the distortions of his Victorian
idolators, recapturing the freshness of Scott as he appeared to his contemporaries.

Genres: History, Biography, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published June 20, 1980

About the author

Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.

Reviews

[Kate]

I really loved this book.

[Karen· · Rating 2 out of 5]

My copy says on the back that this is a winner of the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize. So what is that bung awarded for? The least relevant title to what the book is actually about? 'Cos goodreads may have it listed as 'A View' of Sir Walter Scott, but the cover of my edition is as illustrated and vaunts itself as 'A Life'.

In his introduction, A.N.Wilson admits that this is a self-indulgent book, written by someone who loves Scott’s work and wanted a good excuse to re-read it all. I naively thought that if a book has A Life as part of the title, it would be a biography that I was getting. No, it is a critical study of his work, with odd bits of biography here and there that assume you know all this stuff already, and are happy to allow Mr Wilson to make assumptions about Scott’s state of mind from what he was writing. Not for me.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a great discussion on Sir Walter Scotts' life and work that doesn't get too bogged down, this is the book!

Fantastic read and intro to so much of Scott's writing. Having only ever read Ivanhoe, this book whets the appetite for so much more.