Born in the former Czechoslovakia, Tom Stoppard became one of Britain’s most celebrated
playwrights, famous for his wit and intellectual dazzle in plays like Rosencrantz
and Gildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, Arcadia, and more recently
Leopoldstadt. He wears success well, mixing with famous and glamorous friends, marrying
talented women and breaking up with them amicably. As he grows older, his
politics shift, and he becomes interested in his hidden identity.

In 2013 Stoppard invited distinguished biographer Dame Hermione Lee, well-known for her books on Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton, to tackle his story. She goes at it with formidable stamina, delivering a portrait that is warm and engaging, together with in-depth insight into the themes of his plays.

In this candid conversation with Caroline Baum, Hermione Lee explains how she used the
precious resource of his mother’s letters, examined his important friendship with
Vaclav Havel, and drew together his public and private selves.

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