The two best available biographies have serious deficiencies.

Larry King said "Far and away the best musical biography ever made."

This praise has continued 200 years after its original publication, and it has been described as "one of the best short biographies in English".

City Journal called it "one of the best biographies in modern literature".

Upon its reissue, Graham Greene called it the best biography of 1989.

Sports Illustrated, said of the book, "the best biography of a sports figure published to date."

The best biographies invariably end up saying as much about the biographer as the subject.

One website lists it as "the best modern biography of James I".

The best biography of the poet, our review said.

In May the book was placed first in the Independent's chart of ten best new biographies.