author
William Robson
1785–1863
A schoolmaster turned man of letters, he built a second career translating major European histories and writing lively books on literature and war. His path into authorship came late, but it left behind a body of work that helped bring continental writing to English readers.
1 Audiobook
The Great Sieges of History
by William Robson
About the author
Born in 1785 or 1786, William Robson was a British author and translator who was educated at Chertsey and worked first as a teacher. He turned seriously to literature after the age of fifty, an unusually late start that makes his career especially memorable.
Robson wrote books of his own, including The Walk; or, The Pleasures of Literary Associations and The Old Playgoer. He is best remembered, though, for translation and historical writing, helping English readers reach important European works and broad historical subjects in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Later accounts note that his final years were marked by poverty, and he died on November 17, 1863. Even so, his career shows the persistence of a writer who moved from the classroom into print and found his place through steady literary work rather than early fame.