With this collection of short and fascinating biographical pieces, the award-winning biographer of Coleridge and Shelley offers a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious art of biography.

When researching, Richard Holmes has often become captivated by figures peripheral to his main subject, literary forays that he couldn’t resist. These tales–the forbidden love of John Stuart Mill, the bizarre novel of Oscar Wilde’s tragic grand-uncle, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s nightmarish yet cathartic final trip to Paris–are part of what comprises Sidetracks, a marvelously original that includes letters and travelogues, radio plays, essays, and minature biographies. This book is a rare literary feast and an exploration of the creative processes of one of our most preeminent biographers.

Table of Contents:
I. A Romantic Premontion
Introduction
Thomas Chatteron

II. Lost in France
Introduction
Monsieur Nadar
Gautier in London
Poor Pierrot
Inside the Tower

III. Five Gothic Shadows
Introduction
The Singular Affair of the Reverend Mr Barham
The Reverend Maturin and Mr Melmoth
M. R. James and Others
John Stuart Mill
Lord Lisle and the Tudor Nixon Tapes

IV. A Philosophical Love Story
Introduction
The Feminist and the Philosopher: A Love Story

V. Shelley’s Ghost
Introduction
Scrope’s Last Throw
To the Tempest Given

VI. Escapes to Paris
Introduction
Scott and Zelda: One Last Trip
A Summer with the Novelist
Letters from Paris
Voltaire’s Grin

VII. Homage to the Godfather
Introduction
Boswell’s Bicentenary
Boswell Among the Tulips
Dr. Johnson’s First Cat