‘Elegantly written, psychologically and historically astute.’—Los Angeles Times Book Review

From scholar to buccaneer, from outcast to establishment figure, John Donne emerged as one of the greatest English poets. Following Donne from Plague-ridden streets to palaces, from taverns to the pulpit of St Paul’s, John Stubbs’s ‘exemplary literary biography’ (Harold Bloom) is a vivid portrait of an extraordinary writer and his country at a time of bewildering and cruel transformation.

Circa l’autore

John Stubbs studied English at Oxford and Renaissance literature at Cambridge, where he completed a doctorate. John Donne was awarded a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award and shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award. Stubbs lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia.