author
Robert Charles Dallas
1754–1824
Remembered for colorful fiction and lively literary connections, this Jamaican-born British writer moved through the worlds of poetry, travel, history, and gossip. His name still comes up most often for his writings on Lord Byron and for his account of the Maroon wars in Jamaica.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1754, Robert Charles Dallas became a British poet, novelist, translator, and historical writer. His career was wide-ranging rather than neatly defined: he published verse, novels, travel writing, and political or historical works, and he spent parts of his life in Britain, the Continent, and the Caribbean.
Dallas is especially noted for The History of the Maroons, his account of the Second Maroon War in Jamaica, and for Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron, which helped shape his later reputation. His connection to Byron brought him lasting literary attention, though his own fiction and poetry were also part of the busy print culture of the Romantic period.
He died in 1824. Today, he is often of interest to readers who enjoy the wider circle around Byron, the literature of the early 19th century, and firsthand-era writing tied to Jamaica and the Atlantic world.