Upon its publication ten years ago, the first volume of Richard Holmes's life of Coleridge was hailed by Michael Holroyd as "a modern masterpiece, a book that marks a climax in the golden age of modern biography." The romantic writer who emerges from these pages is unforgettably vivid and unexpected. Holmes gives us a true portrait of unfolding genius -- a man who learns as much from children's games as from philosophic treatises, as much from bird flight as from theology. Unavailable for the last five years, this award-winning biography is being reissued to coincide with the hardcover publication of the concluding volume. The two books represent the pinnacle of Holmes's literary achievement.