From one of our finest literary biographers comes a brilliant biography of Roald Dahl: the much-loved author and creator of countless iconic literary characters. Roald Dahl was one of the world’s greatest storytellers. He conceived his vocation as as that of any fearless explorer and, in his writing for children, he was able to tap into a child’s viewpoint throughout his life. He crafted tales that were exotic in scenario, frequently invested with a moral, and filled with vibrant characters that endure in public imagination to the present day.

In this brand-new biography, Matthew Dennison re-evaluates the traditional narrative surrounding Dahl–that of school sporting hero, daredevil pilot, and wartime spy-turned-author–and examines surviving primary resources as well as Dahl’s extensive literary output to tell the story of a man who identified as a rule-breaker, an iconoclast, and a romantic–both insider and outsider, war hero and child’s friend.