It is difficult not to feel that he was a bit of an old rogue,’ Alan Judd confesses about his impressions of Ford Madox Ford. Given the material in this biography one can only agree. Ford was an incorrigible philanderer who charmed a succession of women by his urbanity and humour, and his eccentric yet civilised manners proved equally disarming to men. ‘He is fairish, fat, about forty,’ D H Lawrence recalled of their first meeting, ‘and the kindest man on earth.’

Subscribe or Sign In to read the full article