PRAISE FOR JONATHAN BATE'S TED HUGHES: THE UNAUTHORISED LIFE 'Magisterial . Gripping and at times ineffably sad, this book would be poetic even without the poetry. It will be the standard biography of Ted Hughes for a long time to come' Sunday Times 'A work of head-spinning revelations . Bate offers a complete picture of Hughes: the man, the work and the restless mythologies that prowled his imagination . A moving, fascinating biography' The Times 'Comprehensive and definitive . Bate's relaxed prose keeps everything moving anecdotally . underpinning it all is a vast command of archival material . He is also a sure guide to the genesis and reception of each of Hughes's major books' Daily Telegraph 'Bate captures the great poet in all his wild complexity .

A powerful and clarifying study, richly layered and compelling' Melyn Bragg, Observer '[An] important . ultimately triumphant biography . Bate is obviously suited as a biographer and critic. His standing in his academic profession is eminent' Financial Times 'Magisterial . Bate writes with sympathy and perception about Hughes and his poetry, and displays tact in shielding the identity and feelings of several of those caught up in the maelstrom of the poet's life. This fine book tells readers as much as they need to know for now' The Economist 'Bate has read this huge mass of material with a scholar's ability to date and arrange it . Hughes carried on telling himself tales from myth about the desires that drove him. This scrupulous and lucid biography makes it all seem like muddle and self-deception, tormenting to himself and the many who loved him' Guardian 'Heartbreaking .

[Bate's] analysis of the poems and how they relate to Hughes's life is particularly illuminating' Daily Mail 'Fascinating' John Preston, Spectator, Books of the Year 'Elegantly retells the myth and, occasionally, violence of the story and gives it new flesh', Philip Hoare, Spectator, Books of the Year.