ABSTRACT
Thomas Moore's account of the life of his great friend Byron is by far the most extensive memoir written by a close friend of the poet. As any modern reader of Byron's correspondence will know, Moore played the most prominent role in the posthumous censorship of Byron's letters, and this was a process he carried into his biography of the poet. Moore's Life is an almost entirely uncritical celebration of a great poet by one of his closest friends, and represents faithfully the side of Byron admired by his personal friends and his political sympathisers in Holland House. It falls into the category of eulogy typified by Southey's Life of Nelson, and is no less enjoyable to read for that.
