Alexander William Kinglake (1809-1891) was born near Taunton, Gloucestershire and educated at Eton and Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1837, and acquired a considerable practice, which in 1856 he abandoned in order to devote himself to literature and public life.

His first literary venture had been Eothen, a brilliant and original work of Eastern travel, published in 1844; but his magnum opus was his Invasion of the Crimea, in 8 volumes, published from 1863 to 1887, which is one of the most effective works of its class. It has, however, been charged with being too favourable to Lord Raglan, and unduly hostile to Napoleon III, for whom the author had an extreme aversion. Its great length is also against it.

This article is originally from A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.

External link

• eTexts of Kinglake's works, at Project Gutenberg