The Essential Boswell: Selections from the Writings of James Boswell by James Boswell
Anthology by leading Boswell biographer - now working on a life of Samuel Johnson - of the best of Boswell's diaries, his account of the great Cham himself, Sam Johnson, and an account of his time in Corsica as well as his obsession with hypochondria. In addition to material about Johnson and their celebrated tour to the Hebrides the lesser known 'An Account of Corsica', records his audacious visit to meet the fabled rebel leader Pasquale Paoli. In modern parlance it was an international bestseller of its day. Martin's astute selection, as in all the best anthologies, will undoubtedly lead the reader to Boswell's work, showing that, as Boswell said of himself: 'I am a compositoion of an infinite variety of ingredients.'