Has anyone counted Byron biographies to date? Surely they must run easily into hundreds, almost all them no doubt "definitive." This one extends to well over 800 pages, and according to the blurb contains new material on the famous triangle between the poet, his wife Annabella, and his half-sister Augusta. There are odd sidelines - for instance, Byron's love of dressing up in exotic or military costume, including an absurd neo-classic helmet (illustrated) of his own design which he wore during his ill-fated expedition to Greece. A hothouse product of the permissive Regency age, he would have detested the Victorian era and in fact his humourless, prissy wife prefigured some of the worst traits of it. His last love, the Countess Guiccioli, probably understood him best, though Byron seemingly could stay with no woman for very long. In view of its length, some readers may feel that the book tells them roughly 200 pages more about Byron than they want to read.