Oscar Wilde

Oscars own life was indeed the greatest of all his theatrical productions

Oscar Wilde was one of the most dazzling figures of the late Victorian age, a wit and playwright whose brilliance illuminated Londons social and theatrical world. His plays, from The Importance of Being Earnest to An Ideal Husband, remain among the sharpest and most enduring comedies in the English language.

Yet behind the glitter and epigrams lay a man of complexity and contradiction. Sheridan Morley traces Wildes rise from gifted Oxford aesthete to celebrated author, and his devastating fall following his trials and imprisonment for "gross indecency". Drawing on letters, reviews and contemporary accounts, Morley paints a portrait of an artist undone by the very society he once delighted, but whose spirit and language have never faded.

This insightful biography captures both the triumph and tragedy of Oscar Wilde - a man whose wit, courage and brilliance made him immortal.