# The Man in the Willows: The Life of Kenneth Grahame - Hardcover

by **Matthew Dennison** (Author)

**A moving biography of Kenneth Grahame, author of the children's classic _The Wind in the Willows_, and of the vision of English pastoral life that inspired it.**

During his regular days in London, Kenneth Grahame sat behind a mahogany desk as Secretary of the Bank of England; on weekends he retired to the house in the country that he shared with his fanciful wife, Elspeth, and their fragile son, Alistair, and took lengthy walks along the Thames in Berkshire, "tempted by the treasures of hedge and ditch; the rapt surprise of the first lords-and-ladies, the rustle of a field-mouse, the splash of a frog."

The result of these pastoral wanderings was his masterful creation of _The Wind in the Willows_, the enduring classic of children's literature; a cautionary tale for adult readers; a warning of the fragility of the English countryside; and an expression of fear at threatened social changes that, in the aftermath of the World War I, became a reality. Like its remarkable author, the book balances maverick tendencies with conservatism. Kenneth Grahame was an Edwardian pantheist whose work has a timeless appeal, an escapist whose withdrawal from reality took the form of time travel into his own past.

### Author Biography

Matthew Dennison is the author of five critically acclaimed works of non-fiction, including _Behind the Mask: The Life of Vita Sackville-West_, a Book of the Year in _The Times_, _Spectator_, _Independent,_ and _Observer_. He is a contributor to _Country Life_ and lives in the United Kingdom

**Number of Pages:** 352

**Dimensions:** 1.1 x 9.2 x 6.3 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** February 05, 2019

## Details

- **Price:** 27.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 27.95 USD | In stock |

## Images

- The Man in the Willows: The Life of Kenneth Grahame - Hardcover

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