2022 Reprint of the 1924 edition. With Twenty-Eight illustrations. Exact facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition. "George MacDonald was a Scottish poet, author, and lecturer who wrote many novels, religious texts, and books of poetry. His most lasting works include The Princess and The Goblins, At The Back Of The North Wind, Phantastes, and Lilith. He directly influenced Lewis Carroll's writing and the publishing of Alice In Wonderland. C.S. Lewis would one day claim that Phantastes provided a baptism for his imagination. Greville MacDonald's biography of his father (and mother) is extensive. It is a step-by-step look at every turn of events leading to and throughout their lives, and it's really a good read for anyone with a knack for history in general. It also provides great insights not only to MacDonald's faith and perspectives, but as to the hard lifestyle that he chose and which sometimes seems to have chosen him. He was a starving artist most of his life, even with friends like Twain, Ruskin, Carroll, and Tennyson and a pension from the Queen. Unlike most artists, he raised about a dozen kids, along with and occasional orphan or street urchin. MacDonald's family life was his world, and one into which he and his wife brought dozens of lifelong friends, who play heavily throughout the text....Luckily, the book is laden with text from many personal letters.... He deals often with poverty, often with death close at hand, often with disabling sickness, and often with misunderstanding of his work. Yet always he maintains an otherworldly self-possession, a capacity at least toward outward insistence on the rejuvenation of all things through the cleansing of death that brings new life. As I read this book, I couldn't help marveling at how much I could use a MacDonald in my daily life, coaching me on through my trials, my misgivings, and my fear of death. This book may hit close to home." Review article by [...]