Three generations of incest in the Byron family.

At the heart of this book stands Augusta - Byron's half-sister with whom he had a passionate love affair - and Byron's society wife Annabella. Crane has recreated their meeting - 40 years after the death of Byron at which they argue and declare their motives for the actions and events that have shaped their adult lives. The dialogue is taken entirely from their letters and diaries. It covers Byron's relationship with them both, Augusta's daughter by Bryon - Medora's subsequent incestuous affair with her sister's husband, Annabella's daughter Ada, and the inescapability of of sexual mistakes in 19th century Britain.

Review
'In Lord Byron's Jackal, David Crane brings Edward Trelawny - seaman, scoundrel, friend of Byron and Shelley startlingly to life. Here is a wonderful adventure story about a man who invented himself in the image of the Byronic hero and lived to the hilt the final passionate and violent flowering of Romanticism in the cause of Greek independence.' STELLA TILLYARD 'Fascinating and oddly disturbing, Crane vividly evokes the horror of a revolution in which both sides were equally brutal. His is a complex book, but as a narrative of mingled fraud and genius it is altogether convincing.' Jan Morris, Independent

David Crane read history and English at Oxford University. He has lectured at universities in America, Holland, Japan and Africa. He is the author of Lord Byron's Jackal, a biography of Edward Trelawny. He lives in London.