If you're new to Gilbert, start here

I'm shocked to realise that it's almost a week since my last posting!

It occurred to me that the one or two people who have actually glanced at this blog by accident may be puzzled about what actually I am writing about. Do I need to explain the few basics? Possibly.

W S Gilbert (1836-1911). The greatest English dramatist of his generation. Wrote the words of The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore. If you've seen any of those pieces I imagine you may be left with a vague impression of silliness and you may be wondering, "Why is this blogging guy getting so worked up about someone who wrote silly, frivolous nonsense?" Fair question, my anonymous friend. I suppose my answer comes in two parts, possibly more. Part One would be: "I enjoy silliness, and it's not easy to do well." Part Two: "Anyway, the silliness is just on the surface, it's a disguise. It's there because the original Victorian audiences of Gilbert and Sullivan didn't want to have their ideas challenged about anything, so the challenges had to be done covertly." Part Three (I knew that two parts wouldn't be enough): "Gilbert and Sullivan is only the tip of it. Gilbert was a real, serious writer, and the more you delve into his works, the deeper you find them. His most uncompromising plays are still a little 'tough', because they are so unrelenting: Engaged, Topseyturveydom, a few others. There is something mysterious about the man, too: the surface humour covers a rod of steel."

Even a century after his death, there's still a lot of myth and misunderstanding surrounding Gilbert's life and work. Too much and too closely twined to unpick in a short article. My new biography (Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan, The History Press, published May 2o11) is just one attempt to set things right a little.

I feel inadequate to shoulder the responsibility of this sometimes. I'm lazy, and procrasinating, and rather prone to depression. But no one else is doing what I'm doing, and as it turns out I think I've written a pretty good book. Why not order it?