Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling was the greatest writer in a Britain that ruled the largest empire the world has known, yet he was always a controversial figure, as deeply hated as he was loved. This accessible biography aims at an understanding of the man behind the image and gives an explanation of his enduring popularity. Kipling was one of the finest writers for children, yet his own childhood was scarred by abuse and two of his children died tragically. He was a compulsively secretive individual: family quarrels and the mental illness of his sister and wife cursed his middle years; and in old age simplistic political views, crudely expressed, diminished his standing. He was castigated as a misogynist, though few writers of either sex have written so warmly about middle-aged women. He was accused of racism, though no other artist wrote with such intimacy of native life. This new biography sheds light on the confused sexuality of a writer who adored men and was attracted to older or masculine women; and places him in context not just as an imperialist but as a sensitive artist of his time.