The seventeenth-century poet Andrew Marvell (1621 1678) is one of the most intriguing figures in English literature. A noted civil servant under Cromwell s Protectorate, he has been variously identified as a patriot, spy, conspirator, concealed homosexual, father to the liberal tradition, and incendiary satirical pamphleteer and freethinker. But while Marvell s poetry and prose has attracted a wide modern following, his prose is known only to specialists, and much of his personal life remains shrouded in mystery.

Nigel Smith s pivotal biography provides an unparalleled look into Marvell s life, from his early employment as a tutor and gentleman s companion to his suspicious death, reputedly a politically fueled poisoning. Drawing on exhaustive archival research, the voluminous corpus of Marvell s previously little known writing, and recent scholarship across several disciplines, Smith s portrait becomes the definitive account of this elusive life."