I hope you'll allow me to glow a bit about my former instructor. Soderholm singlehandedly turned me from a gaping pre-law undergrad to a lover of literature, for which I'll be ever thankful. As to the merits of his first published work, I must add my sincere praise. Soderholm's sleek skull fascinates as it parades on the page. Especially entertaining--and, I would hastily add, quite in keeping with the dynamics of his lecture style--is the extended etymology in the first chapter: of the relationships between "glamour" and "grammar" and the spells that have been woven throughout our culture of them--right up to the present day. Soderholm is a first-rate mind, hardened in the crucible of UVa's graduate English program, and finely sharpened on the anvil of endless conversations with his students and colleagues. I am stronger for having known him, and studied under him, and I enjoyed very much this romp through the tawdry legend of Byron.

Introduces the reader to role played by British philhellenes in the Greek War for Independence, 1800-1827. Much of the book is a warm portrait of Lordy Byron and his influence on the other poets, soldiers of fortune, and swashbucklers who participated. Woodhouse nicely places the philhellenese and their sympathies in the context of early 19th century British intellectual thought: many were Romantics and radicals who wanted a cause and loved the cause they found in the Greeks.

I know virtually nothing about Lord Byron, except that he was a 19th-century English poet, so I can't say how accurate "Lord of the Dead" is in regard to certain parts of his life shown in here. But Byron fans should like this one since he's cast as the main character--as a vampire, of all things--narrating his past to his single captive audience, Rebecca Carville. His existence in "Lord of the Dead" basically consists of him traveling all over Europe, which does become monotonous after awhile. Yet it's in Greece, where he's traveling with his companion Hobhouse, that he is unwillingly turned into a vampire by Vakhel Pasha. Byron also happens to be in love with the Pasha's young runaway slave, Haidee, which is part of the reason why he kills the Pasha and then escapes the rabid village with her--only to face tragedy a short time later.

The book started out ok, so I was a little confused by all of the low reviews; however, as I continued reading, I understood why. After the first couple chapters, the book seems to fizzle out, especially after Byron kills the Pasha for the first time (yes, he has to attempt this more than once; I guess some people don't understand the meaning of "immortality.") Then comes Byron's internal struggle with his new existence--as well as his acquaintance with other fellow vampires--which doesn't really add anything new to the vampire myth. I wondered exactly how Rebecca could sit there and listen for all 341 pages and not become bored herself. About 100 pages could have been removed from "Lord of the Dead" and it wouldn't have harmed the story a bit; in fact, it would have probably improved it.

And like a few reviewers before me, I did notice some similarities between Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire" (because of how the book's told in story form) and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (when Byron is brought to Vakhel Pasha's dark, mountainous castle). And like in most vampire novels, there's blood-drinking and casual sex (as expected with the notorious Byron) in this one as well, though it's relatively reserved for the most part, except for a few scenes that involve things like meat hooks, homosexuality, and incest--but none of them were very erotic or exciting, in my opinion. In summary: This isn't a book I'd necessarily recommend, unless you're a really big fan of Lord Byron and vampires.

The premise of Byron scholar Tom Holland's first novel is that the Romantic poet became a vampire during a trip to Greece with his friend J.C. Hobhouse in 1810, after meeting the mysterious and evil Turkish lord Vakhel Pasha. Byron's story is related by the poet himself, framed within the modern-day search of one of his descendants, Rebecca Ruthven, for his lost memoirs. The author demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the life and works of his subject, using documented facts and quotes from the writings of Byron and his associates to give weight to the story's theme. The story is somewhat weakened by the use of the frame format and the first-person narration, as the character of Rebecca is never fully developed and, although she appears early in the book as a protagonist, her ultimate role is merely that of listener. Fans of Byron and the other Romantics should find this approach intriguing, but might also want to read "The Stress of Her Regard" by Tim Powers, which is considerably more bizarre

Lord of the Dead is an interesting, fictional view of vampires and temptation which focuses on the imaginary life of the famous poet, Lord Byron. As soon as you delve into the book, you are taken into fairly present-day London with a girl named Rebecca. She speaks to a man, interested in the keys that he holds to a tomb. Mainly after some manuscripts that might be found in the tomb, which may hold information about her mother, Rebecca finally is given the keys by the man, and off she goes to the tomb. What she finds in the tomb is more than she expected, though: Lord Byron himself. After asking if perhaps he knows something as to what happened to her mother, Rebecca is then told the story of his life. He retells his life from top to bottom, speaking of how he and his cohort, Hobhouse, roam the lands of Europe, running into unusual people and trying to find the answers to Byron's many questions. What he doesn't realize is that what he has become destroys those that he is closest to.
Wonderfully written, Lord of the Dead makes for a good read, chock-full of unexpected twists and turns in the plot line as well as highly-detailed scenes which makes the story come to life. Truly an interesting page-turner with unusual scenarios and characters, the book is mainly recommended for those who enjoy adventure and action, as well as tales of vampires and fans of Lord Byron himself.

I am not sure that this book is really about Lady Caroline Lamb so much as perpetuating many of the myths about her. Blyth seems only capable of accepting what she said and rarely questions the detail. Unfortunately, for all her charm and personality, it is known that Lady Caroline was very liberal with the truth.

I felt that this was the most annoying thing. Lady Caroline's life was incredibly interesting. She turns up in the periphery of recent books such as Amanda Foreman's work on Ly. C's Aunt, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. We also read a bit about her in Passion and Principle by Aiken Hodge. Both these writers were able to find the truth behind the myths she spread about herself - why couldn't a biographer spending a whole book on her?

I also found this book a little annoying as it purports to be about Lady Caroline, yet much of it is devoted to Byron - her very brief lover and almost life-long obsession. Her life went on after Byron, she wrote books, created other scandals, but it is almost like there was most information on Byron so Blyth chose to dedicate a large portion of his book to the poet.

Hopefully there will be another better biography out soon. Lady Caroline has only one other biography totally to herself and that was written by Elizabeth Jenkins in the 30's. It is about time someone rediscovered this most unapologetic of Regency tear-aways.

I enjoyed this book. Yes, a lot of the book is about her relationship with Lord Byron and in my opinion, that made it a more interesting read.

If you plan to underline portions of Byron's work or comment in the margins of the text, avoid this edition as any ink "bleeds" through its poor quality paper (pencil works fine).

Firstly, I must clarify my rating of this volume. Byron is my favorite of the English poets, surpassing Dryden, Pope, and all the rest. His works have the perfect combination of meter, content, and the malignantly dark atmosphere that I consider essential. Thus, I would hope that no one interprets my 3-star rating as a comment on the poet, or his works thereof.

As for this edition, however, the results are mixed. It is a heavy paperback, with a rather thick cover and pages, and is actually sewn. Unfortunately, the reason I know it is sewn is that the spine of my copy cracked severely, and I can see the threads (incidentally, this happened on the very first page of "The Corsair" - certainly because of the degree of use in that section of the book!). The book is printed in double columns, which serves to lessen the number of pages required (still over 900). However, in the poems which have somewhat longer lines than the others, this means that nearly every metrical "line" is split into two lines on the page (I am thinking specifically of "Childe Harold", "The Corsair" and "Lara" here, although this shows up in other places as well). This is, to say the least, distracting and detracts from the overall reading experience. The font is small, but not unreadably so (older or glasses-requiring readers will likely disagree). Lastly, if you are interested in a "critical" edition of Byron, this may not be the best choice: it includes notes that Byron himself wrote, but they are not particularly illuminating.

The works of Byron are themselves worth owning, without question. The question is if this edition is sufficient. It is complete, and is reasonably well bound. I haven't had a chance to look at the Penguin Classics edition of Byron, in two volumes, which I suspect is in single columns but may not be complete. The other alternative is to find an old edition, preferably one in a format large enough to permit double columns without causing lines to split. However, this is simply not feasible for the casual reader (it took me four months... to acquire such an edition, but it's very nice), and, as such, this edition will do; be aware that it does have its caveats.

For anyone with an interest in modern Greek history, The Greek Adventure" is a fast paced narrative of the war for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s. In this book Howarth does a good job of describing the movement from the perspectives of the three main interests involved. The main interests are the indigenous Greeks, the European Philhelenes (lovers of Greece) and the Turks.

The indigenous Greek forces consisted of various bands of bandits and local warlords who availed themselves of the opportunities to improve their own positions provided by the rebellion against the Turks. Although viewed by the Philhelenes as the noble descendants of Ancient Greece, Greeks of the day were no more closely related to the ancient Greeks than the moderns of any other European nations are related to their ancient antecedents. The architectural relics of Ancient Greece, so admired by the Philhelenes were, to the natives, only embarrassing reminders of a pagan past. The Greeks, in the final measure, did not live up to the high ideals which the Philhelenes had imputed to them.

The role of the Philhelenes was crucial to the success of the war. It was they who provided the funds supporting the revolt, much of it from loan subscriptions in Britain. Most prominent among the Philhelenes was the English poet, Lord Byron, who gave his reputation, his fortune and, ultimately, his life in service of Greek independence. Despite his high profile, the author concludes that there is little contribution which can be said to be traceable to his involvement. It can also be said that the Philhelenes provided the intellectual concept of a noble Greek tradition which cried for a national expression. While much of the money donated to the cause was squandered, this national ideal was the indispensable contribution of the Philhelenes, without which Greek independence may not have been achieved. Although high in their ideals, the Philhelenes were more noted for their inefficient failures than for their successes.

The Turks, against whom the revolt was directed, were represented primarily by the vassals to whom the Sultan made promises in return for service. Too inept to swiftly conquer the ragtag bands of bandits and foreign idealists, the Turks were able to keep the war going until the European powers were able to agree on a formula for ending the conflict.

In the end, it was a treaty between the United Kingdom, France and Russia which led to the resolution of the war. Pursuant to the Treaty of London a joint three power naval fleet destroyed the Turkish fleet in the battle of Navarino, ending the war and guaranteeing Greek independence.

This relatively short book is an interesting introduction to the Greek struggle for independence. My rating is more indicative of my mild interest in Greek history rather than any dissatisfaction with the book. The author does a good job of narrating a story with which many readers are unfamiliar. Although its place and many of its personal names involved are difficult to follow, the author tells the story in a manner which holds the attention of the reader. The multiple forces involved leaves the reader with the suspicion that this war may have been more of a Nineteenth Century Crusade in the centuries of warfare between Christendom and Islam than it was an inspired struggle for Greek freedom. In this we may find its greatest interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but descriptions such as "sane" referring to Lord Byron seem a little generous when applied to the Lord Byron written about by so many other respectable authors. The biographical information contained is rather extensive considering the book's size, and all of said information is accurate as far as my studies have shown. Altogether the book is an informative and enjoyable read, but the author's view of Byron seems a little too naive. --C.Dola

This was one of the first books in a good while that I almost didn't finish. It is, without a doubt, one of the worst books I have read in a long time. The style of the writing is cramped, and hard to comprehend at times. I also found it hard to keep track of most of the people in the book. I do have some pity for her, it must be hard to write a biography of such a mean spirited man.

This mean-spirited biography does nothing to help a reader gain insight into this remarkable English poet. The author leaves great gaps in her examination of Byron's life and what she does relate (i.e., about his illfated marriage) is biased and gives absolutely no sense of the personalities involved or a sense of regency England. Her reaction to Byron is hostile throughout (without being at the same time incisive), making me wonder why she decided to write about him in the first place. Give this one a pass and look for Leslie Marchand's biography which ranks among the finest or read Byron's complete correspondence which gives one a direct view into his personality.

I enjoyed this book tremendously, although I can't say I was always in agreement with Grosskurth regarding her subject. She doesn't seem to like Byron much and sometimes her antipathy shines through--a direct contrast to her supposed detached approach to her subject matter. The book is well-written, although not necessarily easy to read. Because Grosskurth's is essentially a scholarly approach, her style tends to be a bit pretentious. She often uses unecessarily long words and run-on sentances to communicate simple ideas. Still, the book was a fascinating read and I'd recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in Byron--but read Marchand's collection of Byron's letters as well. You'll get a more complete picture of Byron the man and not just a psychological profile.

This book is dogmatic and tiresome and silly, which things Byron was not. It fully justifies Byron's bad opinion of scholars and trusts all the calumnies the poet has ever abhored. Skip this biography that does the Murray publishing house as much good as their "Death of God"
Read the poetry and the letters. Read Malcolm Elwin and Drinkwater.

This is a very good biography, full of facts and devoid of speculation. However, reading this biography of Byron, one gets the feeling that perhaps he should have been castrated at birth. Women begged him for his sexual favors and young boys were not immune to his amatory attentions. After a few hundred pages, the litany of B's conquests becomes tiresome and almost boring. Readers who are not interested in the sexual excesses of famous poets won't find much to engage them here.

The author's subtitle is "Life and Legend," but if you are one who admires Byron's poetry, I'd suggest avoiding this book. It might make you admire Byron the person much less. The book doesn't really make clear why Byron's poetry was such a sensation or what made Byron a legend. Perhaps he was charming, but we see little evidence of his charm in this book.

Elizabeth Taylor once said that when she first met Richard Burton, she resolved not to become another notch on his belt. She succumbed anyway. Byron, apparently, never met a woman--and few men--who didn't pant to become a notch on his belt.

Chapter 22 begins "...[Byron] was sick of promiscuity." About time! He is now 31 years old, but any resolve to avoid promiscuity that might have attached to this sentiment didn't last long. He and Teresa Guiccioli (a married woman) jumped into bed at their third meeting. At least he stuck to her longer than to any of his previous amours, though not uninterruptedly, and she was no saint herself. It all sounds quite sordid.

Byron's death is very affecting. The doctors probably killed him with the barbaric contemporary practice of bloodletting.

The author quotes occasionally from Byron's poems but doesn't discuss or analyze any of them.

A more generous use of commas would have improved the readability of the text.