William Walton's place in 20th century music cannot easily be assessed only a few years after his death. Regarded in his youth as an experimentalist and then hailed as Elgar's successor, he was increasingly "written off" by some critics for repeating himself and for failing to fulfil the promise of his early masterpieces. He was displaced by Britten and later by Tippett, yet he had champions among international conductors and soloists and his works retained their popularity with audiences. This biographical study of Walton draws on correspondence with his friends and colleagues, including Siegfried Sassoon, Benjamin Britten, Malcolm Arnold and Andre Previn, to provide a portrait of his contribution to 20th century classical music. Correspondence with the poet Christopher Hassall is included, with whom Walton fashioned the libretto of the opera "Troilus and Cressida". Assessing individual compositions, the author faces squarely the issue of whether the post-1945 works represented a decline in inspiration and creativity. Michael Kennedy has also written "Portrait of Elgar", "The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams" and the "Oxford Dictionary of Music".