Alan Paton - Softcover

Alexander, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195713605 ISBN 13: 9780195713602

Publisher: Oxford University Press Southern Africa, 1996

Synopsis

Best remembered as the author of Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton's reputation extends beyond the fields of fiction and literature to his roles as a teacher, prison reformer, and politician. In this new biography, Peter Alexander sets out to explore not only the public figure, but also the
private man about whom much less is known.

About this title

About the Author:

Peter F. Alexander is Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and the author of Roy Campbell. A critical Biography (OUP, 1982, o/p) and William Plomer (OUP, 1989). Born in South Africa, he was educated at Johannesburg and at the University of Witwatersrand where he
was taught by Alan Paton's son, Jonathan. He met and knew Alan Paton for the last 15 years of his life.

Review:

'It is one of the great merits of Peter Alexander's definitive study of Alan Paton that although Alexander thinks Paton was a great man and a great writer, he supplies the evidence on which a quite opposite view may be based.'
Times Higher Education Supplement

'the emphasis of Alexander's lively and well-researched book is on Paton as Politician rather than author ... It is a tribute to Alexander's skill and integrity that by the end of the book we have come round to Paton.'
Richard West, The Spectator

'Without shrinking from the less savoury aspects of a largely worthy life, and without minimsing his subject's faults and failings, Peter Alexander has done justice to the Alan Paton I knew ... the quality Paton's friend loved most in him was his humour, a quality which shines through in this
biography ... This thorough and widely researched biography is the most authoritative work yet on Paton, one which sets the standard for succeeding efforts. The author's deep admiration for his subject has not inhibited his commitment to painting an accurate picture, warts and all.'
Donald Woods, The Sunday Times

`meticulously researched account of his life'
Sue MacGregor, Daily Telegraph

`Peter Alexander has written an excellent biography of an interesting and important man ... The story is told steadily respectfully, warts and all, and the judgment is well-considered and balanced.'
J.D.F. Jones, Financial Times

'Alexander, who came to know Paton well towards the end of his life, is an admiring biographer, but he still manages on occasion to place before us the seamier or more controversial sides of Paton's life ... This is not a ground-breaking book, but it is well researched and well written. For
admirers of Paton, it is an affirmation of his brilliance; while for the uninitiated, it is a loving portrait of a remarkable man, an extraordinary time and a strange and tormented land.'
Samantha Weinberg, The Times

'Alexander has written an honest and open biography of a man who remains a deeply interesting and important figure.'
Times Literary Supplement

'Alexander ... is both sensitive and scrupulous, open and frank.'
Douglas Reid Skinner, SA Times

'an engrossing new profile'
Bill Keller, International Herald Tribune

`Peter Alexander, with an academic's eye for detail, takes us steadily but not ploddingly through Paton's life. Packed with interesting anecdotes, this biography goes some way to providing an answer to the contradictions in the man.'
Daily Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Southern Africa
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0195713605
• ISBN 13: 9780195713602
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528