C Day-Lewis: A Life

'Peter Stanford's biography has achieved something that few such examinations are able to do: a scrupulous, modulated fair-mindedness. I think somehow that it begins with good will and Stanford's appreciation of my father's work provides the bedrock on which he builds. His scholarship, which is impeccable, is worn lightly and he, author, remains resolutely at the service of his subject. This rare quality of modesty allows the work to sperak for itself. He casts light on my father's poetry through sensitive understanding of his experience - a strikingly unmodern balance between the private life and the creative force that blossomed out of it. I like that best of all: that the work is placed, and remains firmly, at the centre. Knowing Peter a little bit, none of this surprises me. And yet one is left with a sense of genuine gratitude. Though it is no doubt hard for a son ever to assess the life of his own father, with Peter's help I feel I have been led some considerable way, encountering many delightful surprises en route, down the path that might allow me to do so'   Daniel Day-Lewis January 18, 2008

The first authorised account of the life of the Anglo-Irish Poet Laureate, C Day-Lewis (1904-1972) who, along with WH Auden and Stephen Spender, is best remembered as one of the 'Poets of the Thirties'.

Published in London and New York by Continuum in May 2007. ISBN: UK hardback 978-0-8264-8603-5  Now also available in e-book format