John Betjeman: The Biography

Bevis Hillier

John Murray, 2006 - Biography & Autobiography - 590 pages

This biography takes the reader from Betjeman's troubled childhood in north London, through his blossoming at Oxford; a gay fling with W. H. Auden; a clandestine marriage to a field marshal's daughter; pranks as a film critic; wartime service and probable espionage in Ireland, to the glory days of his later years when his Collected Poems became a runaway bestseller. This book is a distillation of Bevis Hillier's three-volume biography, authorized by Betjeman himself.

About the author

Bevis Hillier devoted more than twenty-five years to writing Betjeman`s life, a task entrusted to him by the poet himself. Like Betjeman he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. Later he joined The Times, became editor of The Connoisseur and a columnist on the Los Angeles Times, as well as writing for many other papers and journals. He edited Betjeman`s 'Uncollected Poems' now included in COLLECTED POEMS, compiled JOHN BETJEMAN: A LIFE IN PICTURES and is the author of YOUNG BETJEMAN, NEW FAME, NEW LIFE and THE BONUS OF LAUGHTER. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Hampshire.

Bibliographic information

• Title: John Betjeman: The Biography
• Author: Bevis Hillier
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: John Murray, 2006
• ISBN: 0719564433, 9780719564437
• Length: 590 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Women; Literary Criticism / Poetry