William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was immensely popular during his lifetime and perhaps now best-known for his novel Of Human Bondage (1915), which draws heavily on his own experience. Maugham, a playwright as well as a novelist, wrote successfully across media. In this 1958 study, Liverpool-born writer John Brophy argues that Maugham's 'successful versatility' across the novel, the play, the short story, and the personal narrative places him within 'that small and select company' of writers whose best work will continue to be read well beyond the twentieth century.