An invaluable companion to the life, work and enduring legacy of William Blake, publishing in the bicentenary of his death.

William Blake (1757-1827) is one of Britain's best-loved poets and artists, a visionary who was largely ignored and often vilified during his lifetime, yet whose limitless imagination and radical spirit still resonate across art and culture today.

In The William Blake Companion, Michael Glover traces Blake's life, work and his enduring influence on the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and others. Illustrated with artworks and extracts from Blake's illuminated books, and featuring walking routes through Blake's London, this accessible companion brings readers closer to the creative genius behind Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Jerusalem and some of the most recognizable images in British art. It sets Blake's radical politics and opposition to slavery within the turbulent debates of his time, while visiting the places that shaped his imagination: the church where he was baptised; Peckham Rye, where he saw angels; and Bunhill Fields, where he was buried.

Along the way, Glover recounts prophetic visions, supernatural encounters, a fairy funeral, a brush with sedition and battles with fellow artists - stories that reveal the unconventional mind behind Blake's words and images.