The 100 Most Influential Writers of All Time (The Britannica Guide to the World's Most Influential People)

It has been said that when it comes to success, it isn't what you know, but who you know. The 100 Most Influential Writers of All Time is one title in this 8 book series, in which readers get the best of both worlds. Concise but information-packed biographies detail the lives and life's work of hundreds of leading individuals from an assortment of disciplines. Readers will get to know the foremost minds within science, art, writing, music, invention, politics and philosophy. Each valuable compendium offers a comprehensive index, complementary visuals, and behind-the-scenes details that reveal the very human nature behind world-changing personalities. The 100 Most Influential Writers of All Time: Homer Aeschylus Sophocles Aristophanes Gaius Valerius Catullus Virgil Imru al-Qays Du Fu al-Mutanabb Ferdows Murasaki Shikibu Rm Dante Petrarch Geoffrey Chaucer Lus de Cames Michel de Montaigne Miguel de Cervantes Edmund Spenser Lope de Vega Christopher Marlowe William Shakespeare John Donne John Milton Jean Racine Aphra Behn Bash Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz Daniel Defoe Jonathan Swift Voltaire Henry Fielding Samuel Johnson Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Robert Burns William Wordsworth Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet Samuel Taylor Coleridge Jane Austen George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats Aleksandr Pushkin Victor Hugo Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allan Poe Charles Dickens Robert Browning Charlotte Bront Henry David Thoreau Emily Bront Walt Whitman Herman Melville George Eliot Charles Baudelaire Fyodor Dostoyevsky Gustave Flaubert Henrik Ibsen Leo Tolstoy Emily Dickinson Lewis Carroll Mark Twain mile Zola Henry James August Strindberg Oscar Wilde Arthur Rimbaud George Bernard Shaw Anton Chekhov Rabindranath Tagore William Butler Yeats Luigi Pirandello Marcel Proust Robert Frost Thomas Mann Lu Xun Virginia Woolf James Joyce Franz Kafka T. S. Eliot Eugene ONeill Anna Akhmatova William Faulkner Vladimir Nabokov Ernest Hemingway John Steinbeck George Orwell Pablo Neruda Samuel Beckett Richard Wright Eudora Welty Naguib Mahfouz Albert Camus Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Jack Kerouac Flannery OConnor Toni Morrison Wole Soyinka Sir Salman Rushdie J. K. Rowling TITLE......Page 3 COPYRIGHT......Page 4 CONTENTS......Page 5 INTRODUCTION......Page 8 EARLY REFERENCES......Page 17 HOMER AS AN ORAL POET......Page 19 THE POEMS......Page 20 AESCHYLUS......Page 22 SOPHOCLES......Page 26 ARISTOPHANES......Page 29 GAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS......Page 31 EARLY LIFE......Page 33 LITERARY CAREER......Page 34 IMRU’ AL-QAYS......Page 38 DU FU......Page 39 AL-MUTANABBI......Page 41 FERDOWSI......Page 42 MURASAKI SHIKIBU......Page 45 RUMI......Page 46 PUBLIC CAREER AND EXILE......Page 51 THE DIVINE COMEDY......Page 54 PETRARCH......Page 55 EARLY YEARS......Page 58 THE MIDDLE YEARS......Page 59 LAST YEARS AND THE CANTERBURY TALES......Page 60 LUÍS DE CAMÕES......Page 62 MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE......Page 64 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES......Page 67 A LIFE FILLED WITH ADVENTURE......Page 68 DON QUIXOTE......Page 70 LATER YEARS......Page 72 EDMUND SPENSER......Page 73 LOPE DE VEGA......Page 76 CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE......Page 78 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE......Page 80 EARLY LIFE IN STRATFORD......Page 81 CAREER IN THE THEATRE......Page 84 PRIVATE LIFE......Page 85 PLAYS AND POEMS......Page 87 LIFE AND CAREER......Page 89 POETRY......Page 91 PROSE......Page 92 JOHN MILTON......Page 93 JEAN RACINE......Page 96 APHRA BEHN......Page 99 BASHO......Page 100 SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ......Page 103 DANIEL DEFOE......Page 105 JONATHAN SWIFT......Page 108 VOLTAIRE......Page 111 HENRY FIELDING......Page 114 SAMUEL JOHNSON......Page 116 EARLY WORKS......Page 119 A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE......Page 121 NEW VENTURES......Page 122 LATER YEARS......Page 124 ROBERT BURNS......Page 125 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH......Page 129 SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1ST BARONET......Page 132 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE......Page 135 JANE AUSTEN......Page 138 GEORGE GORDON BYRON, 6TH BARON BYRON......Page 142 PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY......Page 145 JOHN KEATS......Page 148 ALEKSANDR PUSHKIN......Page 151 VICTOR HUGO......Page 154 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE......Page 158 EDGAR ALLAN POE......Page 160 CHARLES DICKENS......Page 164 ROBERT BROWNING......Page 168 CHARLOTTE BRONTË......Page 171 HENRY DAVID THOREAU......Page 175 EMILY BRONTË......Page 177 WALT WHITMAN......Page 179 HERMAN MELVILLE......Page 183 GEORGE ELIOT......Page 188 CHARLES BAUDELAIRE......Page 192 FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY......Page 196 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT......Page 199 HENRIK IBSEN......Page 200 LEO TOLSTOY......Page 203 EARLY YEARS......Page 206 DEVELOPMENT AS A POET......Page 208 MATURE CAREER......Page 209 LEWIS CARROLL......Page 212 MARKTWAIN......Page 215 YOUTH AND APPRENTICESHIPS......Page 216 LITERARY MATURITY......Page 218 OLD AGE......Page 221 ÉMILE ZOLA......Page 222 HENRY JAMES......Page 224 AUGUST STRINDBERG......Page 226 OSCAR WILDE......Page 229 ARTHUR RIMBAUD......Page 233 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW......Page 235 ANTON CHEKHOV......Page 238 RABINDRANATH TAGORE......Page 240 WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS......Page 243 LUIGI PIRANDELLO......Page 246 MARCEL PROUST......Page 249 ROBERT FROST......Page 251 THOMAS MANN......Page 253 LU XUN......Page 256 EARLY LIFE AND INFLUENCES......Page 260 EARLY FICTION......Page 262 MAJOR PERIOD......Page 264 LATE WORK......Page 266 JAMES JOYCE......Page 267 FRANZ KAFKA......Page 271 T. S. ELIOT......Page 275 EUGENE O’NEILL......Page 278 ANNA AKHMATOVA......Page 280 WILLIAM FAULKNER......Page 283 VLADIMIR NABOKOV......Page 286 ERNEST HEMINGWAY......Page 289 JOHN STEINBECK......Page 293 GEORGE ORWELL......Page 295 PABLO NERUDA......Page 297 SAMUEL BECKETT......Page 300 RICHARD WRIGHT......Page 303 EUDORA WELTY......Page 306 NAGUIB MAHFOUZ......Page 308 ALBERT CAMUS......Page 310 ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN......Page 312 JACK KEROUAC......Page 316 FLANNERY O’CONNOR......Page 319 TONI MORRISON......Page 321 WOLE SOYINKA......Page 323 SIR SALMAN RUSHDIE......Page 325 J. K. ROWLING......Page 327 GLOSSARY......Page 330 FOR FURTHER READING......Page 332 INDEX......Page 334 Book Cover......Page 352 Homer Aeschylus Sophocles Aristophanes Gaius Valerius Catullus Virgil Imru' al-Qays Du Fu al-Mutanabbī Ferdowsī Murasaki Shikibu Rūmī Dante Petrarch Geoffrey Chaucer Luís de Camões Michel de Montaigne Miguel de Cervantes Edmund Spenser Lope de Vega Christopher Marlowe William Shakespeare John Donne John Milton Jean Racine Aphra Behn Bashō Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Daniel Defoe Jonathan Swift Voltaire Henry Fielding Samuel Johnson Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Robert Burns William Wordsworth Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet Samuel Taylor Coleridge Jane Austen George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats Aleksandr Pushkin Victor Hugo Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allan Poe Charles Dickens Robert Browning Charlotte Brontë Henry David Thoreau Emily Brontë Walt Whitman Herman Melville George Eliot Charles Baudelaire Fyodor Dostoyevsky Gustave Flaubert Henrik Ibsen Leo Tolstoy Emily Dickinson Lewis Carroll Mark Twain Émile Zola Henry James August Strindberg Oscar Wilde Arthur Rimbaud George Bernard Shaw Anton Chekhov Rabindranath Tagore William Butler Yeats Luigi Pirandello Marcel Proust Robert Frost Thomas Mann Lu Xun Virginia Woolf James Joyce Franz Kafka T.S. Eliot Eugene O'Neill Anna Akhmatova William Faulkner Vladimir Nabokov Ernest Hemingway John Steinbeck George Orwell Pablo Neruda Samuel Beckett Richard Wright Eudora Welty Naguib Mahfouz Albert Camus Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Jack Kerouac Flannery O'Connor Toni Morrison Wole Soyinka Sir Salman Rushdie J.K. Rowling. There are few tools more powerful than the written word. Writers who finely hone their craft possess the ability to spread messages, change minds, or merely create something beautiful. As shown in the pages of this volume, masterful writers through the ages have run the gamut from early dramatists and poets such as Aristophanes, Sophocles, and Shakespeare to successful modern-day novelists, including Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, and J.K. Rowling. Chronologically arranged entries profile one hundred of the world's most influential writers from ancient times through the twentieth century