Trelawny's World

An enthralling biography of an archetypal nineteenth century Romantic. Ideal for readers who enjoyed Emily Brand's The Fall of the House of Byron or Jonathan Bate's Radical Wordsworth.

Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron are some of the greatest poets of any era. They lived extraordinary lives and refused to conform with what society expected of them.

Yet how do we know so much about the lives of these two heroes of the Romantic era who both died before their time?

Friend of both Shelley and Byron, Edward John Trelawny was a brilliant writer in his own right and recorded their adventures in his famous book Records of Shelley, Byron, and the Author.

Meeting them in Italy he travelled with them in the Mediterranean, teaching both how to sail and sharing tales, before tragically having to organise the funerals of both men in the aftermaths of their deaths just under two years apart.

Noel B. Gerson demonstrates in this biography that in many ways Trelawny led a more daring existence than either of the famous poets, joining the navy as a young boy, travelling across the globe and serving in British warships during the Napoleonic Wars, before fighting in Greek War of Independence, surviving sieges and assassination attempts.

Although unschooled Trelawny recorded the details of his fascinating life in a number of bestselling memoirs, which along with a variety of other contemporary sources have allowed Gerson to uncover his remarkable life and the world in which he lived.

Trelawny's World: A Biography of Edward John Trelawny allows this remarkable man to step out from the shadows of his famous friends and emerge as a truly exceptional figure before the readers eyes.