RICHARD OLLARD

He proclaimed himself a genius and raged against the slightest criticism from fellow scholars; he was a Marxist who despised the Idiot People; he could be generous and affectionate yet hurled insults at his friends; he inveighed against Puritanism but was himself in many ways a Puritan: A. L. Rowse was a man of many contradictions.In this clear-sighted and absorbing biography, Richard Ollard examines the many sides of Rowses Protean personality to reveal a man who, whatever he was responding to - public affairs, the arts, natural beauty or events in his personal life - did so with tremendous energy and passion.An urbane study of the celebrated historian. Antonia Fraser, Daily MailStrikes a perfect balance between the Jekyll Rowse and the Hyde Rowse. Bevis Hillier, SpectatorExcellent. Katherine Duncan-Jones, TLS