Originally published anonymously in the columns of The 'Academy', and reprinted years afterward, under the author's name, Bennett gives an unabashed account of his early struggles and successes on his way to becoming an English literary giant. His autobiography sheds light on what it meant to be an English writer around the turn the century. This version of Bennet's classic autobiography includes P. J. Harvey Darton's biography on the author, "Arnold Bennett" to give readers the full experience of who Arnold Bennett was.