REVIEWS:

Winner of the Runciman Award 2004

"Beaton's treatment of both the literary and political facets of Seferis's life - and their interrelation - is carefully researched, judicious, and felicitously expressed. The biography is not only an essential source for readers of Seferis's poetry; the evocation of his diplomatic career makes it valuable reading for all with an interest in twentieth-century Greek history." - Edmund Keeley, co-translator of Seferis's Collected Poems

"gripping reading ... definitive." - New York Times Book Review

"An elegant, well-researched and politically astute study." - Peter Green, Times Literary Supplement

DESCRIPTION:
Poet, essayist, diarist, novelist, and diplomat, George Seferis brought about a revolution in the way people viewed his native Greece. Acclaimed for his thought-provoking lyric poetry, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963. At the same time, he rose in the diplomatic corps to the position of Ambassador to Britain. This biography of Seferis provides insights into his work, life, and country. Roderick Beaton, an acknowledged authority on modern Greek literature and culture, draws on previously unknown sources to tell Seferis's story. He describes how Seferis occupied key diplomatic positions during periods of historic crisis before, during, and after World War II. He explores Seferis's service as Ambassador to London at a time when Greece and Great Britain were disputing the future of Cyprus, noting that some of Seferis's finest poetry was written about that troubled island. He analyses Seferis's literary production and his impact on Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller, and other British and American writers. Exploring the interplay between poet and diplomat, public and private, and poetry and politics in Seferis's life and career, this book should interest anyone interested in 20th-century Greek literature, culture, or history.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
RODERICK BEATON is Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature, King's College London (University of London). He is the author of Ariadne's Children, a novel, numerous scholarly works on modern Greek literature and has edited/translated George Seferis's A Levant Journal.

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SUBJECT CLASSIFICATIONS:
Biography & autobiography
Poetry & poets
Literary studies: from c 1900 -

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Illustrations: 40 b&w illustrations
Number of Pages: 528
Dewey: 889.132