“The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Johnson” by Robert DeMaria and Dan Hitchens

I love the Cambridge Introductions to Literature series. They are all written by scholars who really know what they are writing about, but are also readable and of a very manageable length. This one is 163 pages long, but as Dr Johnson did in his lofe, packs a huge amount in.

We start with a concise chapter in which the basic biographical facts of Samuel Johnson’s fascinating life are set out, along with some background information about the time he lived in. Subsequent chapters then focus in turn on different aspects of his literary production – the essays, the plays and poetry, the biographical studies, the political thought, the scholarship and, of course, the famous dictionary. The final chapter is entitled ‘the legend’ and deals with the manner in which his work has moved in and out of fashion in the centuries after his death.

This is no dry, academic study. It is authoritative and pretty comprehensive as a summary, but also highly readable with plenty of lovely quotes from or about Dr Johnson. It, like its subject, is very difficult to spend time reading without considerable enjoyment.