A biography of Honore de Balzac.

It may be said of Honoré de Balzac that into a lifetime of fifty years he packed the lives of half a dozen men, three or four of them writers. These include the social historian and novelist of genius, the man of affairs who failed resoundingly in all his financial undertakings (although no one ever wrote more knowledgeably about practical matters), the man of the world who squandered the money he had yet to earn, and the man who loved women, all women more or less, a few very deeply. Balzac's reputation as one of the greatest of novelists has long been secure; but after the centenary of his death there was a special stir of interest. Archives were re-examined, judgments reassessed and much new material brought to light. It is this, apart from his love of the subject, which prompted André Maurois to embark upon this new biography. In particular, he has sought to relate the life to the works, to bring together all the different aspects, good and bad, of this phenomenal man, so that he may be seen as a whole, living, growing and working in the vivid and dramatic context of his time.--From publisher description.