Whilst defining the very meaning of forgery Nick Groom ranges effortlessly from the economic forgery of the eighteenth century, where the forgery of a GBP100 banknote could mean death by hanging, to the formation of literary copyright which was established not in order to protect the nation's authors but rather as a way of censoring them. At the centre of Groom's fascinating book are the figures of literary forgery that have haunted both our literature and our imaginations for years. There is Chatterton: the fatal model for the Romantic perceived as a mad, unrecognized, and suicidal genius but one whose supposedly tragic life was as much a myth as the fifteenth century monk he invented. Or there is Macpherson: constantly at war with Samuel Johnson who edited (or wrote, or indeed forged) the lost epics of a third-century Celtic bard; there is the forger William Henry Ireland who not only wrote two new and disastrous Shakespeare plays but also forged a legal document to make sure he benefited from the royalties; and finally there is the famous Wainewright who was a supreme forger in practically every sphere whose effect on literature from Dickens to Wilde to the present day cannot be underestimated.

Forger's Shadow : How Forgery Changed the Course of Literature

Literature & Fiction

Nick Groom

History & Criticism

Picador

<p>Ever since The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was first published in 1937 the popularity of the vast, imaginative world he created has only increased over time. What is about Middle-Earth and the characters which populate it that has captured the imaginations of millions of people around the world? Today, there is a vast and growing Tolkien industry, including books, films, games and a highly anticipated forthcoming TV series, The Rings of Power, which is being billed as the most expensive ever made.\nTwenty-First Century Tolkien explores this phenomenon and investigates why Tolkien’s works still inspire people fifty years after his death. Taking in surprisingly prescient episodes from the original books and later reworkings, and covering such topics as friendship, failure, uncertainty, the environment, the weird and eerie – as well as Tolkien in a post-Covid age – Nick Groom explains his striking relevance for some of the most pressing issues that now confront us, and ultimately reveals why the Tolkien moment really is now.</p>

Twenty-First-Century Tolkien: What Middle-Earth Means To Us Today

ATLANTIC BOOKS *

The Union Jack: The Biography

History

Europe

Atlantic Books 2006-04-13

<p>Known the world over as a symbol of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack is an intricate construction based on the crosses of St, George, St, Andrew and St, Patrick. Nick Groom traces its long and fascinating past, from the development of the Royal Standard and 17th-century clashes over the precise balance of the English and Scottish elements of the first Union Jack to the modern controversies over the flag as a symbol of empire and its exploitation by ultra-rightwing political groups.</p>

The Union Jack : The Story of the British Flag

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Books by Nick Groom