Vast Alchemies: The Life and Work of Mervyn Peake

Interest in Mervyn Peake, author of Titus Groan and many other modern fantasy classics, has never been greater than it is now. With the imminent BBC adaptation and showing of the acclaimed Gormenghast Trilogy in England, and its showing in the U.S. this summer (on the Discovery channel), and with the re-issuing of his books, this completely new reassessment of the life and work of one of this century's most popular and misunderstood writers will be much welcomed.

This biography is the result of twenty-five years' research into Peake by one of the world's best authorities. It follows Peake, the son of missionary parents, from China to art school in London and to an artist's colony in the Channel Islands. It covers in detail his time in the army during the Second World War, a stressful period which coincided with his writing of Titus Groan; the huge influence that his visit to the concentration camp at Belsen had on his work; and the next ten years of his life, which were without doubt his most productive. Winnington examines all of Peake's work -- the novels, poems, the illustrations, and the plays -- and emphasizes his struggle with poverty, ill health, and his premature death. Vast Alchemies draws heavily on the writings and reminiscences of those who knew Peake, as well as Peake's correspondence with his publishers, and includes many never-before published photographs.