Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl

Theauthorisedbiographyofoneofthegreateststorytellersofalltime,writtenwithcompleteaccesstothearchivesstoredintheRoaldDahlMuseumandStoryCentre.RoaldDahlisoneofthegreateststorytellersofalltime.Hepushedchildren'sliteratureintounchartedterritoryandalmosttwentyyearsafterhisdeathhispopularitycontinuestogrow–worldwidesalesofhisbookshavenowtopped100million.Themanbehindthestories,however,remainsanenigma.Dahlwasasingle-mindedadventurer,aneternalchild,andhispublicpersonawasoftencontroversial.Tohisreaders,though,Dahlwasalwaysaheroandhisstorieshavehadanimpactonthelivesandimaginationsofgenerationsofchildren.Sincehisdeathhisreputationhasbeentransformed.Criticstoonowcelebratehiswildimagination,quirkyhumourandlinguisticelegance;figureslikeWillyWonka,theBFGandtheGrandHighWitchareimmortalliterarycreations.Inthismasterlybiography,DonaldSturrockrevealsmanyhithertohiddenaspectsofRoaldDahl'slife:histerrifyingexperiencesasafighterpilot;thementalanguishcausedbythedeathofhisseven-year-olddaughter;hisworkformilitaryintelligenceattheendofthewarandmore.Writtenwithexclusiveaccesstohisprivatepapersandmanuscriptsaswellaswithreferencetohundredsofnewly-discoveredletters,Dahllivesoneverypageofthisutterlycompellingbook,whichrevealsthemanaswe'veneverseenhimbefore.