Temporary Kings

Anthony Powell

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Paperback

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About the book

'He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.' GUARDIAN

'A Dance to the Music of Time' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.

In the eleventh volume in the series, Nick Jenkins, persuaded by his old friend Mark Members, attends a literary conference in Venice. Meanwhile, old school pal Widmerpool continues to climb the ranks, this time as a Life Peer. But his position in power is under threat when he becomes the subject of whispered accusations of espionage, and wife Pamela, former lover of the dead writer X. Trapnel, also finds herself the centre of attention, as the mystery around the writer continues to draw ghoulish interest from readers and academics alike. Even in Venice, surrounded by the beautiful vistas of the city, Nick cannot escape his friends' turbulent lives.

About the Author

Anthony Powell

Anthony Powell was an only child, born in 1905. As a young man he worked for a crumbling publishing business whilst trying to find time to write novels. He moved in a bohemian world of struggling writers and artists, which was to provide the raw material for much of his fiction. During the Second World War he served in Military Intelligence Liaison. He subsequently became a fiction reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement and for five years he was the literary editor of the now-defunct magazine Punch. Meanwhile he continued to work on the twelve-novel sequence ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’. He was the author of seven other novels, and four volumes of memoirs. His many reviews for the Daily Telegraph are also published in collected volumes. Anthony Powell died in March 2000.