Publisher's Synopsis
As his letters attest, for nearly forty years Henry James enjoyed a warm andgratifying friendship with Britain's foremost soldier of the last quarter of the nineteenthcentury and his wife. The Wolseleys were notable figures. Lord Wolseley, the field marshal whobecame Britain's commander in chief of the British army, was a national hero. Both abibliophile and an author, Wolseley was described by Henry James to his brother William as an"excellent example of the cultivated British soldier." Lady Wolseley was alsowell-read, as well as stylish, strong-willed, and shrewd, and in Henry's view, adelightful correspondent-in short, as the editor writes, "precisely the kind of womanJames most admired."In The Master, the Modern Major General, andHis Clever Wife, Alan James offers a collection of more than one hundredletters-most of them published here for the first time-that Henry James wrote to theWolseleys, the majority to Lady Wolseley. Included are an overall introduction to the letters;separate introductory profiles of Lord and Lady Wolseley along with commentaries on the factors thatdrew James and the Wolseleys together; introductions to each of four sections of the letters,divided chronologically; and annotations throughout, identifying the notable men and women to whomJames refers as well as comparing what James and the Wolseleys thought of them and theirwork.
