Unhappy Far-Off Things - Paperback

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunket (1878-1954) was the 18th Baron of Dunsany and a prolific member of the Irish Literary Revival. He was enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Second Boer war, and served later as a Captain in the trenches in World War One. His acquaintances included W. B. Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, and Authur C. Clark. Dunsany's fiction explored a broad range of styles over time, buthis early Weird fantasy, stories of myth, wonder, and cosmic legend, helped to establish many foundations of the burgeoning genre. Authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin and Neil Gaiman have cited Lord Dunsany as an inspiration to their work. Dunsany loved dogs, and used his status as an aristocrat to champion animal rights. The Dunsany family, whose land and title date back to the 1100's, maintain a website which describes the 18th Baron as tall, handsome, 'a keen marksman and a fine player of cricket, tennis and chess.' He was an illustrator and sculptor of figurines, and was most well known during his lifetime for his successful career as a playwright.