BYRON: LIFE AND LEGEND by Fiona MacCarthy

A major advantage this biography has over others is access to previously unavailable private correspondence between Byron and Murray , the forebear of the publishers of this work.This release of intimate archives matters as it renders previous , albeit meticulously researched , biographies diminished in this vital regard.This is especially so as one of the mysteries of any attempt to capture his real life is the systematic burial of Byrons notes and surviving journals once they were glanced over by his friends.The releasing of this archive is as close one will get to the recovery of these banished documents.

Fiona MacCarthy is well chosen to collate and bring together this material into a compelling , yet distant , retelling of a story where the line between real and legend is ever blurred.

On page 46 is quoted a maxim concerning long lasting relations " i have always laid down as a maxim - and found it justified by experience - that a man and a woman - make for better friendships that can exist between two of the same sex - but then on condition that they never have made - or are to make love with each other." , if you pick nothing up from Byron , then pick this one at least , despite his colourful and rich life , he died an extremely unhappy man because he could not live his on advice.

On page 85 he also reveals a desire " not to prove i can write well , but , if possible, to make others write better."

If one can take these bits of advice on board then you are well on the way to grasping the very best legacy he can leave behind.

Below is a documentary from the History Channel Chronicling some moments from Byrons Life.(This is part 1 of 5).



You can see the other parts by scrolling down the relevant entries in the "Related Videos" segment in the sidebar on the right hand side in the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURpeBujd9M


There is a quite exceptionally powerful rendition by Richard Coyle of a Byron classic in the video below:



It was written about Lady Francis Webster , one of the few Woman who had the temerity to reject Byrons advances , bringing out a very passionate unromantic jealous side out of him.

My particular favourite is She Walks in Beauty , you can get the Poem and a concise discussion on it in this link.

And here a serene rendition: