Marguerite Yourcenar's Hadrian

"""Thanks to his intimate knowledge of Yourcenar's entire work, Keith Bradley carries out a fascinating study of the ways in which Marguerite Yourcenar, in Memoirs of Hadrian, succeeded in linking the search for accuracy and poetics by creating a fictional biography that takes us into the thoughts of the emperor, plausibly.""--R�my Poignault, Professor Emeritus of Latin Language, Literature, and Civilization, Universit� Clermont Auvergne ""Keith Bradley's enthralling exploration of M�moires d'Hadrien examines what a life is, and how to recreate a life authentically and unforgettably. Bradley's deep learning illuminates Yourcenar as a biographer who perfected a poetics of history. The whole is a profound meditation on history, historiography, and poetic interpretation.""--Mary T. Boatwright, Professor Emerita of Classical Studies, Duke University ""Marguerite Yourcenar was a Belgian-born historical novelist, the first woman to be elected to join the 'Immortals' of the Acad�mie Fran�aise, whose 1951 M�moires d'Hadrien channelled a Spanish-born Roman emperor who fancied himself a Greek philosopher. Confused? Not distinguished Roman historian Keith Bradley, who gives us bountifully two for the price of one: a compelling account of the fictional Hadrian, 'a true biographical character, ' and, interwoven, a thoroughly modern biography of the original emperor himself, both utterly brilliant.""--Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor Emeritus of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge ""Keith Bradley's characteristic clarity, erudition, and humanity dazzle in a beautifully written labour of love. He explores the delicacy needed in analysing ancient sources, Yourcenar's expertise in the relevant evidence and scholarship, and her poetic reconstruction of the inner life of the man she regarded as a friend.""--Susan Treggiari, Professor of Classics Emeritus, University of Oxford"