Trollope was in his thirties before his first novel was published; before his death at sixty-seven he had written nearly seventy books, as well as conducting a quite separate career in the Post Office. This authoritative and highly readable biography, by the editor of Trollope's Letters, draws a masterly portrait of an engaging, contradictory, extraordinary man and writer. N. John Hall writes with an unparalleled knowledge of his subject, vividly and with humor -- as alive to Trollope's shortcomings as to his startling powers. He shows us that, productive as he was, Trollope was also a writer of care and judgment, and more of an intellect than is often recognized. In this biography, Hall interweaves the public and social career -- as civil servant, traveller, fanatic rider to hounds -- with that of the writer, drawing on the works themselves as well as all relevant historical evidence. Above all, he never loses sight of the mystery and subtlety of Trollope's personality: the comic and creative genius of the man who arguably left behind him more good novels than any other writer in the language. - Jacket flap.