Bernard Shaw: A Life

Australian scholar Gibbs, a founding member of the Council of the International Shaw Society, is less revisionist in his view of Shaw than he would have us believe. Gibbs quotes Shaw (1856–1950) a little less than previous biographers, but finds only marginal alternative sources on his subject's early life. Charting his progression from Victorian novelist and journalist-reviewer to popular playwright and political gadfly, Gibbs emphasizes Shaw's passionate relations with women, both amatory and filial, which provided the emotional subtext for his best work. His affairs with Florence Farr, Erica Cotterill and Stella Campbell are placed more in the context of his creative treatment of "the New Woman" than his progressive politics. And beyond the maneuverings within the Fabian Society with Beatrice and Sidney Webb and H. G. Wells, Shaw's particular brand of socialism receives casual treatment, and Gibbs is mild in his judgment of Shaw's missteps; for instance, Shaw's unrevised positive opinion of Stalin and Soviet totalitarianism shows an "uncharacteristic credulity." Despite Gibbs's immersion in all things Shavian, his tacitly deferential work shows how difficult it can be to bring even the liveliest character to life. B&w photos. (Dec.)