In the decade following the death in 1988 of Raymond Williams, his former tutor at Cambridge University, Terry Eagleton established himself as the leading Marxist practitioner of literary theory and cultural studies writing in the English language. He is a prolific writer whose output is a highly individual combination of sometimes highly abstract literary and cultural theory, practical criticism of literary texts, political polemic, and popularization. Much in demand as a speaker on university campuses and at academic conferences, he has had an immeasurable effect both on scholars and on the vast population of students who have been assigned his widely used textbooks.

Terence Francis Eagleton was born in Salford, England, on 22 February 1943, the son of Francis Eagleton and Rosaleen (née Riley) Eagleton, both of whose parents were Irish immigrants to Britain. Eagleton was educated at De La Salle College, Pendleton, and went on to earn an...