author
William Robson
1785–1863
A British author and translator who turned seriously to literature later in life, he is remembered for lively books on theater, history, and literary subjects. His career has an underdog quality: after years as a schoolmaster, he kept writing even as his circumstances grew difficult.
1 Audiobook
The Great Sieges of History
by William Robson
About the author
Born in 1785 or 1786, he was a British author and translator who appears to have begun his working life as a schoolmaster before moving more fully into literary work after the age of fifty. Standard reference sources describe him as especially active in the mid-19th century and note that he wrote across several subjects rather than staying in a single lane.
His books included The Walk; or, The Pleasures of Literary Associations (1837) and The Old Playgoer (1846), and he also wrote historical works such as The Great Sieges of History. The record that survives suggests a writer with wide-ranging interests, comfortable with both literary reflection and popular history.
Later accounts say that his final years were marked by poverty. He died on November 17, 1863, leaving behind the work of a versatile Victorian-era man of letters whose career began in earnest relatively late.