author
Walter Sichel
1855–1933
A barrister by training, this English writer turned his sharp eye to literary lives and left behind vivid studies of figures such as Sheridan, Sterne, and Defoe. His work blends careful research with a storyteller’s feel for character.
1 Audiobook
Disraeli: A Study in Personality and Ideas
by Walter Sichel
About the author
Born in London in 1855, Walter Sydney Sichel was educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford. He studied law, was called to the bar in 1879, and also wrote on legal subjects before building a reputation as a biographer and man of letters.
He is best remembered for his biographies, especially books on Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Laurence Sterne, and Daniel Defoe. Alongside his books, he contributed to reviews and literary journalism, bringing a clear, readable style to the lives of major literary figures.
Sichel died in 1933. Reliable sources agree on the broad outline of his career as an English lawyer-turned-biographer, though easily available pages offer little personal detail beyond his education, family background, and published work.