The poet James Thomson was author of the pessimistic masterpiece The City of Dreadful Night, which Hermann Melville described as a modern Book of Job. Born into a millenialist family, reared in a London Scottish orphanage, Thomson was an early member of the Corps of Army schoolmasters. Expelled from the Army for insubordination, he wrote for the weekly freethought National Reformer where he published pioneering translations of Leopardi, versions of Heine, prose satires on Church affairs and biting criticism of the narrowness of contemporary British literature.

The Life of James Thomson B V is a moving and insightful book about the life and work of this important writer. Including a selection of his letters and a study of his writings, this book provides an intimate portrait of Thomson and his times. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Thomson (1834-82) is best known for his poem The City of Dreadful Night and has several thorough biographies written about him. Pawley however, thinks that though all the relevant facts have been wrung from the existing document, some reasonable inference can reveal much more about his tormented emotional life. c. Book News Inc.