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Start giftingRudyard Kipling
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreThis gripping biography mixes intimate detail with a thorough understanding of the social, intellectual, artistic, and political climate of the time to unravel the intricate story of the misunderstood genius who wrote Kim, The Jungle Books, and the poem “If.”
Growing up in both England and India, this descendant of a high-achieving family crossed India’s established divide between ruler and subject as he explored the urban underworld and dabbled with opium. Recently discovered letters shed light on Kipling’s most intimate relationships and help explain how India influenced his personal, political, and literary development. Later, suffering from marital stress, the deaths of his son and daughter, and a wavering sanity, only iron self-control and love of the English countryside enable him to transmute his sadness and growing disillusion into his crystalline late short stories, which are gaining new appreciation today.
Andrew Lycett received a history degree from Oxford University before becoming a journalist at the Sunday Times (London), where he served as a foreign correspondent in Africa and the Middle East. He has written acclaimed biographies on Ian Fleming, Dylan Thomas, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, Muammar Qaddafi, and Rudyard Kipling. He lives in London.
Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.
Reviews
“Andrew Lycett’s biography is very good...especially good in his analysis of the marriage with Carrie.”
“Magnificently thorough biography...magisterial study.”
“Fascinating...another valuable step along the road to restoring most of Kipling’s art, and much of his character, to comply with today’s more severe standards of respect.”
“The best book on a misunderstood man for twenty years...Excellent on Kipling’s emotions.”
“Richly detailed...will still be read after the latest psycho-histories and literary deconstructions have deconstructed one another to bits.”
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