One of the great literary biographies of our time - Independent on Sunday The best book I've read for ages is Fiona MacCarthy's . biography of Byron . Immaculately written, freshly researched, moving and only moderately filthy - Daily Telegraph Deserves to be the definitive single-volume biography of Byron for many years to come - Observer This book is a flawless triumph . The key to the book's success is [MacCarthy's] intelligent awareness of the overwhleming immportance of sex, in human life generally, in Byron's life particularly - Country Life MacCarthy makes it extravagantly clear why men and women once worshipped at Byron's feet, and still worship at his grave - Mail on Sunday It is hard to imagine any need for another full-scale biography . MacCarthy is good not just at the great sweep of [Byron's] story but also at the little details that bring whole cultures to life - Mail on Sunday Sparkling . MacCarthy succeeds brilliantly in offering an account that is not only impeccably researched but also presented in the sort of pacy, racy style that Byron himself might have appreciated - Daily Telegraph A magisterial account of Byron's life as a poet, public figure and serial shagger, this 674- page biography is both scholarly and readable . MacCarthy also pays due attention to the poetry, and charts his posthumous influence on figures as diverse as Disraeli, Oscar Wilde and W H Auden - Irish Independent.