Table of Contents

Part 1: an end and a beginning; a fermenting genealogy; how his parents met and were married; a devil of a childhood; Vandeleur Lee appears, leaving a trail of uncertainties; "Menage a trois", Catholic and Protestant; the shame of education; music in Dublin and how Mrs Shaw celebrated her 21st wedding anniversary; in which Shaw advances as an estate agent, marks time as a lover, and moves to London. Part 2: the ghosting and death of Vandeleur Lee; how Shaw experimented with the telephone and began writing novels in London; in which his history continues unsuccessfully; where he trained and what he ate and drank; he grows a beard; containing a sparring friendship with Pakenham Beatty and a sparring flirtation with Alice Lockett; death of a novelist; death of a father. Part 3: in which Shaw finds a new family among the Fabians; the moral and aesthetic influences of William Archer and William Morris; showing how he went walkabout with Edith, spent his evenings with Eleanor and passed the night of his 29th birthday with Jenny; introducing Sidney Webb, describing how the Fabian musketeers conducted themselves in Trafalgar square and showing in what way they turned defeat into victory with "Fabian Essays". Part 4: a live red socialist from the streets comes in with "The Quintessence of Ibsenism"; a crust for the critics: Shaw as a literary reviewer; the mystical betrothal with May Morris - a story from another world; Corno di Bassetto in unison with G.B.S.; a section which begins with the entrance of Florence Farr and ends with the exit of Jenny Patterson. Part 5: the courtship of Sidney and Beatrice Webb; in which Shaw starts his career as an unpleasant playwright; in which he writes his first pleasant play, "Arms and the Man"; pursuing the story of the playwright and his actresses; he writes "Candida"; how "Candida" fared with Janet Achurch and Richard Mansfield in North America. Part 6: concerning the editorial versatility of Frank Harris; containing some dramatic opinions; in which Shaw jousts with Henry Irving over Ellen Terry; continuing the story of "Candida" and Janet Achurch; in which Shaw writes his last pleasant play and his first play for Puritans and relinquishes his dramatic criticism. Part 7: how Shaw performed at the Vestry; he is courted by Bertha Newcombe and courts Charlotte Payne-Townshend; the courtship persists and reaches its climax.

Reviews

``Holroyd, biographer of Lytton Strachey and Augustus John, produces here a biography of the highest order--generous, poised, utterly fascinating, Shavian in its unmasking of Shaw's deceits, attuned to G.B.S.'s complexity,'' praised PW , stating: ``This is a Shaw for our time.'' Photos. (July)