Rb: A Biography of Robert Burns

Published previously in Great Britain, this well-researched examination of the life of Scotland's National Poet (1759-1796) relies heavily on primary source materials. Although he was born into a farming family and was poorly educated, Burns wrote artfully and skillfully in standard English as well as in the Scottish vernacular. He became renowned for his narrative poems such as ``Tam O'Shanter'' and song lyrics that include ``Auld Lang Syne.'' MacKay, a Burns scholar ( Complete Works ), here argues that his subject's reputation was unfairly destroyed by earlier studies portraying Burns as a drunkard and a rake. Burns fathered several illegitimate children, but he also married and was responsible for his wife and their nine legitimate children. He indulged in alcohol no more than the average 18th-century male. A richly detailed study that places Burns's life within a proper historical framework. (Aug.)