Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant

Walter Besant

• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781513293912
• eBook ISBN: 9781513293912
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant (1902) is a posthumously published autobiography by Walter Besant. Although he is more widely known for his works of fiction and book-length studies of the city of London, Besant was also a gifted autobiographer whose unique sense of self and rich memories make for an entertaining, informative read. "I am supposing that [man] has the choice offered him, together with an outline of the future—not a future of fate laid down with Calvinistic rigour, but a future of possibility. And as time, past or future, does not exist in the other world, I am supposing that a man can be born in any age that he pleases." The son of a merchant, Walter Besant would combine ambition with wit to become one of Victorian England's leading intellectual figures. His autobiography is not just the portrait of a man, but a record of a century that saw empires rise and fall, industry outpace agriculture, and the life of humanity change forever, for better or worse. Unsatisfied with the success and fame he found in his literary work, Besant dedicated himself to social causes and was a true champion of the poor in London and around the world. This edition of Walter Besant's Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• A Prefatory Note
• I. Child and Boy
• II. Child and Boy (continued)
• III. School-Boy
• IV. King’s College, London
• V. Christ’s College, Cambridge
• VI. A Tramp Abroad
• VII. L’Île de France
• VIII. England Again: The Palestine Exploration Fund
• IX. First Steps in the Literary Career— and Later
• X. The Start in Fiction: Critics and Criticasters
• XI. The Novelist with a Free Hand
• XII. The Society of Authors and Other Societies
• XIII. Philanthropic Work
• XIV. The Survey of London
• XV. The Atlantic Union
• XVI. Conclusion: The Conduct of Life and the Influence of Religion
• A Note About the Author
• A Note from the Publisher