Though a controversial writer and often an easy target for critics because of his literary and personal excesses, Ford Madox Ford played a key role in the development of modern literature. His collaborations with Joseph Conrad, his contributions as editor of the English Review and the transatlantic review, his accomplishments as a novelist, and his defense of the art of fiction rank him among the major writers of his time.

During his lifetime, however, Ford never gained the distinguished reputation his ego craved and often claimed for itself. As a writer of novels, Ford saw himself as fit company for Conrad, his early friend and collaborator, and, as a prose stylist, he believed he was the worthy successor to the master, Henry James. As a man of letters, he was a passionate defender of the tradition of literature, yet he was also a devoted friend--he preferred Dutch uncle--of...