Somerset and all the Maughams

🔖 Robin Maugham, the author of Somerset and all the Maughams, has enjoyed many advantages denied to other writers who have attempted to portray Somerset Maugham and his family background. First, as a nephew of Somerset Maugham, he had a unique relationship with his uncle during a period of forty years. Next, as the second Viscount and head of the Maugham family, he possesses many papers and documents which until now have not seen the light of day. And, lastly, the unusually close friendship that existed between uncle and nephew-despite brief periods of estrangement-has enabled the author to make an exceptionally complete analysis of his uncle's life and character. But Somerset and all the Maughams, as the title implies, is not a biography. It is partly a quest for the roots of the family from which sprang, in particular, two remarkable men: Robin Maugham's father, a Lord Chancellor of England; and his uncle, one of the most famous writers of this century. The unfolding of the family history is as fascinating as the constant flow of intimately personal stories about these two strange brothers-the austere and inhibited lawyer and the cosmopolitan artist who, throughout their long lives, lost no opportunity of showing their intense disapproval of one another. This book is Robin Maugham's most important work to date. As a study in family history, and as a contribution to the understanding of Somerset Maugham-his writing, his life and his temperament-it is of incomparable value and ...