This is a portrait of John Aubrey, one of Britain's greatest eccentrics and authors. Best known for his "Brief Lives", Aubrey was a man interested in everything from mathematics to folklore and from heraldry to horticulture. This study of Aubrey's life examines his youth, in the shadow of the Civil Wars, and his later life as a scholar, writer and antiquarian. A founder member of the Royal Society, Aubrey's circle of friends included almost all the distinguished figures of his period, and this account of his life and work also provides an insight into that period. This new edition also contains a new foreword by the author.