Nigel Hamilton has written biographies of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton.
No one writing biography can afford to ignore this edifying book.
Nigel Hamilton has the depth and breadth of experience to write
about a genre that he champions...While this is a how-to book, even
the most seasoned biographer will find much of value about choosing
a subject; doing proposals for biographies; handling interviewing;
negotiating the perils of publishing unauthorized biographies;
managing biographical narratives; writing with an audience in mind;
and the nexus between memoir, autobiography, and biography.--Carl
Rollyson"thebiographerscraft.com" (05/01/2008)
["How To Do Biography"] offers a well-written, sensible, and, given
its brevity, fairly encompassing assessment of what it is that a
biographer does and how he goes about doing it...Hamilton is quite
eloquent and persuasive in discussing how things come around at the
end, not only at death, but after, when the life meets
posterity.--Sven Birkerts"Boston Globe" (07/06/2008)
The book is full of good advice and interesting stories.--Owen
Richardson"The Age" (07/26/2008)
This marvelous work--basically, a how-to book--is comprehensive in
its treatment of everything necessary to creating a published
biography. Hamilton, who has authored biographies of Field Marshall
Montgomery, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton, here leaves nothing
unsaid on the subject. He thoroughly details biography's agenda and
motivation and describes its target audience, who will expect
something of a revelation concerning the human condition...He
additionally scrutinizes autobiography and memoir writing, the
consequence of telling the truth, and biography's afterlife. The
exceptional excerpts Hamilton selects from published biographies to
illustrate his points are both edifying and entertaining.--Robert
Kelly"Library Journal" (04/15/2008)
Drawing instruction from his own lifetime of biographic work and
others'--including Samuel Johnson, Robert Caro, David McCullough,
Hermione Lee, Edmund Morris, and others whom Hamilton has admired,
known and worked with--the author takes readers on an intellectual
journey through the creative process, from conception to
publishing...Hamilton's passion, lyricism and collection of telling
anecdotes make this "short book of advice" an unexpected
page-turner; it's hard not to get caught up in the author's
romantic vision of biography, a form he believes has nearly as many
permutations as music. Elucidating not just the dos and don'ts of
biography, but also the whys and hows, Hamilton has created a
motivating, empowering guide for writers (and fans) of the genre.
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