Terence Rattigan

Geoffrey Wansell

At the time of his death in 1977, Terence Rattigan was barely remembered by the theater-going public, yet 30 years earlier he was considered one of Britain's most important playwrights. Geoffrey Wansell's Terence Rattigan is the first critical evaluation of the author since his death and, as such, is a major contribution to theater history. More importantly, because Rattigan and most of his contemporaries are dead, Wansell is able to discuss freely their personal and sexual lives. Carefully documented and elegantly written, this biography adds immeasurably to our understanding of British gay male life and the evolution of a gay artistic sensibility.