The most readable and sympathetic [biography] that has yet appeared...This biography achieves perspective on its subject's character and achievement and on the well-known dramas of his domestic life. John Bayley, New York Review of Books A stupendous biography. Fiona MacCarthy, The Times The best life of the Victorian critic of art, architecture, and society we are likely to have for a long time. Washington Post Book World Outstanding-beautifully written...loving but level-headed. John Gross, The Observer (Books of the Year) A minor masterpiece of biographical writing. Roger Kimball, Architectural Record Every serious scholar will have to acquire this volume, but even those who know practically nothing about Ruskin will find it enormously enjoyable. Quentin Bell, American Historical Review