Publisher's Synopsis
Undoubtedly a great social and literary critic, the violently personal nature of Hazlitt's writings and his absolute refusal to accept the art of the possible, "the lie", as he called it, has led to belated acceptance of his genius.;Writing at a time of great social and intellectual turmoil, William Hazlitt (1778-1830) was uncompromising in his defence of truth, liberty and justice, and in his championship of the inarticulate and exploited he added a potent voice to the tradition of radical protest. A world juggler, he joined intellectual judgement with a facility to detect the significant trends of his day. Whatever his subject - Shakespeare, art, theatre, politics, race, class or love - Hazlitt's personality is stamped on all he wrote.
