BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017 in The Sunday Times, Spectator, Mail on Sunday, Observer andFinancial Times'A landmark biography' The Times, Books of the Year'One of our generation's greatest biographers' London Review of Books'Witty, spirited, richly crowded with incident and character - a joy to read' ProspectThe long-awaited portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers, author of the definitive and acclaimed Matisse: The LifeAnthony Powell: the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Spanning twelve spectacular volumes and written over twenty-five years, his comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing twentieth century Britain through war and peace.Drawing on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him, Hilary Spurling explores his life. Investigating the friends, relations, lovers, acquaintances, fools and geniuses who surrounded him, she reveals the comical and tragic events that inspired one of the greatest fictions of the age.*Discover Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time series, available in paperback and e-book from Arrow.