Raleigh

Gosse, Edmund, 1849-1928Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 429K words
Chapters: 43

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Raleigh by Edmund GosseAuthor: Gosse, Edmund, 1849-1928,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Dec 20, 2008

Editor's review

Edmund Gosse was an English writer and literary critic, and this short biography of Walter Raleigh is part of his writing on historical figures, available in the public-domain e-book project. Raleigh is a controversial figure of the Elizabethan era, combining the roles of navigator, courtier, and writer. The book's value lies in its literary portrayal of his life and times, helping readers understand the intertwining of English overseas expansion and court politics in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Gosse's narrative carries the aesthetic tastes and evaluative tendencies of his own era; readers should treat it as a literary-inflected historical biography rather than a critical biography in the modern academic sense. Its focus on character and the ups and downs of fate makes it suitable as an introductory read for understanding figures of the great age of English exploration, and also as a sample of literary historical writing. It is best read alongside more recent historical research to form a fuller picture.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Elizabethan England and figures of the Age of Exploration
Students and writing enthusiasts studying the craft of literary biography
History enthusiasts seeking to understand the context of English overseas expansion through a life story
English learners who need public-domain biography texts for reading practice

Not a good fit for

Serious historians requiring modern academic standards and detailed annotations
Readers expecting a complete chronological survey with archival citations
Readers impatient with literary evaluation who prefer concise historical facts

Reading tips

Familiarize yourself with the basic background of Raleigh's era before reading the main text; this will help you better understand the situations and judgments presented.
Distinguish the author's evaluations from factual statements, and stay alert to judgments with literary coloring.
Read alongside other works on Elizabethan history to test the emphases and choices of this narrative.
When encountering unfamiliar names of people and places in the English original, look them up and take brief notes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a complete biography of Raleigh?

It is a short biographical sketch that focuses on the outline of his life and the shaping of his character and fate, rather than a full, research-based biography covering every detail. Readers should not expect a detailed chronological record.

What is Gosse's writing style like?

Gosse was himself a literary critic and writer, and his style is rather literary, emphasizing character and the atmosphere of the age. This approach is highly readable, but his judgments carry personal and period coloring and should be checked against historical facts.

What reading level is the English public-domain edition suitable for?

The text is English writing from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with sentence structures and vocabulary somewhat more formal than modern English. It is best suited to readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability who are willing to look up words.

Comments

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About the author

Gosse, Edmund, 1849-1928 Author

Edmund Gosse (1849–1928) was an English writer and literary critic, with nine works held in this collection. His best-known book, Father and Son, is a memoir that examines the clash of temperament and belief between two generations; restrained yet tense in style, it is an important text for understanding family and religious life in the Victorian era. He also wrote Henrik Ibsen, introducing the Norwegian playwright to English readers, while Gossip in a Library, Three French Moralists and The Gallantry of France, Some Diversions of a Man of Letters and Aspects and Impressions display the wide range of his essays and criticism. The Future of English Poetry and the fantasy Hypolympia show his ventures into poetics and imaginative writing. His prose is clear and elegant, learned yet readable. As public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here.