Ford Maddox Ford
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Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals ''
The English Review ''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day. History The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (la ...
'' and ''
The Transatlantic Review ''The Transatlantic Review'' (often styled ''the transatlantic review'') was an influential monthly literary magazine edited by Ford Madox Ford in 1924. The magazine was based in Paris but was published in London by Gerald Duckworth and Company ...
'' were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature. Ford is now remembered for his novels ''
The Good Soldier ''The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion'' is a 1915 novel by the British writer Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I, and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly perfect marriage, along with that of his two A ...
'' (1915), the ''
Parade's End ''Parade's End'' is a tetralogy of novels by the British novelist and poet Ford Madox Ford, written from 1924 to 1928. The novels chronicle the life of a member of the English gentry before, during and after World War I. The setting is mainly ...
''
tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies f ...
(1924–1928) and ''
The Fifth Queen ''The Fifth Queen'' is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising ''The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court'' (1906), ''Privy Seal'' (1907), and ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (1908). It presents a highly ficti ...
''
trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
(1906–1908). ''The Good Soldier'' is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, ''The Observer''′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and ''The Guardian''′s "1000 novels everyone must read".


Early life

Ford was born in Wimbledon in London to Catherine Madox Brown and Francis Hueffer, the eldest of three; his brother was
Oliver Madox Hueffer Oliver Madox Hueffer (born Oliver Franz Hueffer; 1877 – 22 June 1931), was an author, playwright, and war correspondent. Biography Heuffer was born in 1877 in Surrey to Catherine Madox Brown, an artist, and Francis Hueffer, a German-English ...
and his sister was Juliet Hueffer, the wife of David Soskice and mother of
Frank Soskice Frank Soskice, Baron Stow Hill, (23 July 1902 – 1 January 1979) was a British lawyer and Labour Party politician. Background and education Soskice's father, was from a family of Russian Jewish merchants. David Soskice became involved in ...
. Ford's father, who became music critic for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'', was German and his mother English. His paternal grandfather Johann Hermann Hüffer was first to publish
Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...
n poet and author
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff Baroness Anna Elisabeth Franziska Adolphine Wilhelmine Louise Maria von Droste zu Hülshoff, known as Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (; 10 January 179724 May 1848), was a 19th-century German poet, novelist, and composer of Classical music. She was ...
. He was named after his maternal grandfather, the
Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...
painter
Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painti ...
, whose biography he would eventually write. His mother's older half-sister was
Lucy Madox Brown Lucy Madox Brown Rossetti (19 July 1843 – 12 April 1894) was a British artist, author, and model associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. She was married to the writer and art critic William Michael Rossetti. Early life Madox Brown was born in P ...
, the wife of
William Michael Rossetti William Michael Rossetti (25 September 1829 – 5 February 1919) was an English writer and critic. Early life Born in London, Rossetti was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Rossetti ''née'' Polidor ...
and mother of
Olivia Rossetti Agresti Olivia Rossetti Agresti (1875–1960) was a British activist, author, editor, and interpreter. A member of one of England's most prominent artistic and literary families, her unconventional political trajectory began with anarchism, continued ...
. In 1889, after the death of their father, Ford and Oliver went to live with their grandfather in London. Ford attended the
University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...
in London, but never studied at university. In November 1892, at 18, he became a Catholic, "very much at the encouragement of some Hueffer relatives, but partly (he confessed) galled by the 'militant atheism and anarchism' of his English cousins."


Personal life

In 1894, Ford eloped with his school girlfriend Elsie Martindale. The couple were married in
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...
and moved to Bonnington. In 1901, they moved to
Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
. They had two daughters, Christina (born 1897) and Katharine (born 1900). Ford's neighbours in Winchelsea included the authors
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...
,
Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...
, W.H. Hudson,
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
in nearby Rye, and H.G. Wells. In 1904, Ford suffered an
agoraphobic Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can i ...
breakdown due to financial and marital problems. He went to Germany to spend time with family there and undergo treatments. In 1909, Ford left his wife and set up home with English writer Isobel Violet Hunt, with whom he published the literary magazine ''
The English Review ''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day. History The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (la ...
''. Ford's wife refused to divorce him and he attempted to become a German citizen to obtain a divorce in Germany. This was unsuccessful. A reference in an illustrated paper to Violet Hunt as "Mrs. Ford Madox Hueffer" gave rise to a successful libel action being brought by Mrs. Ford in 1913. Ford's relationship with Hunt did not survive the First World War. Ford used the name of Ford Madox Hueffer, but changed it to Ford Madox Ford after World War I in 1919, partly to fulfil the terms of a small legacy, partly "because a Teutonic name is in these days disagreeable", and possibly to avoid further lawsuits from Elsie in the event of his new companion, Stella, being referred to as "Mrs Hueffer". Between 1918 and 1927, he lived with Stella Bowen, an Australian artist 20 years his junior. In 1920, Ford and Bowen had a daughter, Julia Madox Ford. In the summer of 1927, ''The New York Times'' reported that Ford had converted a mill building in Avignon, France into a home and workshop that he called "Le Vieux Moulin". The article implied that Ford was reunited with his wife at this point. In the early 1930s, Ford established a relationship with Janice Biala, a Polish-born artist from New York, who illustrated several of Ford's later books. This relationship lasted until the late 1930s. Ford spent the last years of his life teaching at
Olivet College Olivet College is a private Christian liberal arts college located in Olivet, Michigan. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It was founded in 1844 by missionaries from Oberlin College, and it followed Oberlin in becom ...
in Olivet, Michigan. He was taken ill in
Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...
, France, in June 1939 and died shortly afterward in
Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...
at the age of 65.


Literary life

One of Ford's most famous works is the novel ''
The Good Soldier ''The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion'' is a 1915 novel by the British writer Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I, and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly perfect marriage, along with that of his two A ...
'' (1915). Set just before World War I, ''The Good Soldier'' chronicles the tragic expatriate lives of two "perfect couples", one British and one American, using intricate flashbacks. In the "Dedicatory Letter to Stella Ford” that prefaces the novel, Ford reports that a friend pronounced ''The Good Soldier'' “the finest French novel in the English language!” Ford pronounced himself a "
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
mad about historic continuity" and believed the novelist's function was to serve as the historian of his own time. However, he was dismissive of the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, referring to it as "the Stupid Party." Ford was involved in British war propaganda after the beginning of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. He worked for the
War Propaganda Bureau Wellington House is the more common name for Britain's War Propaganda Bureau, which operated during the First World War from Wellington House, a building on Buckingham Gate, London, which was the headquarters of the National Insurance Commission b ...
, managed by C. F. G. Masterman, along with
Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...
, G. K. Chesterton,
John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include '' The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize ...
,
Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. ...
and
Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...
. Ford wrote two propaganda books for Masterman; ''When Blood is Their Argument: An Analysis of Prussian Culture'' (1915), with the help of
Richard Aldington Richard Aldington (8 July 1892 – 27 July 1962), born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet, and an early associate of the Imagist movement. He was married to the poet Hilda Doolittle (H. D.) from 1911 to 1938. His 50-year w ...
, and ''Between St Dennis and St George: A Sketch of Three Civilizations'' (1915). After writing the two propaganda books, Ford enlisted at 41 years of age into the
Welch Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...
of the British Army on 30 July 1915. He was sent to France. Ford's combat experiences and his previous propaganda activities inspired his
tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies f ...
''
Parade's End ''Parade's End'' is a tetralogy of novels by the British novelist and poet Ford Madox Ford, written from 1924 to 1928. The novels chronicle the life of a member of the English gentry before, during and after World War I. The setting is mainly ...
'' (1924–1928), set in England and on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
before, during and after World War I. Ford wrote dozens of novels as well as essays, poetry, memoirs and literary criticism. He collaborated with
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...
on three novels, '' The Inheritors'' (1901), ''
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
'' (1903) and '' The Nature of a Crime'' (1924, although written much earlier). During the three to five years after this direct collaboration, Ford's best known achievement was ''
The Fifth Queen ''The Fifth Queen'' is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising ''The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court'' (1906), ''Privy Seal'' (1907), and ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (1908). It presents a highly ficti ...
'' trilogy (1906–1908), historical novels based on the life of
Catherine Howard Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
, which Conrad termed, at the time, "the swan song of historical romance." Ford's poem ''Antwerp'' (1915) was praised by T.S. Eliot as "the only good poem I have met with on the subject of the war". Ford's novel ''
Ladies Whose Bright Eyes ''Ladies Whose Bright Eyes'' is a novel by Ford Madox Ford. It was written in 1911 and extensively revised in 1935. The first edition was published as by "Ford Madox Hueffer", the form of his name he used at that time. The revised edition was ...
'' (1911, extensively revised in 1935) is a
Time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
novel, like
Twain Twain may refer to: People * Mark Twain, pen name of American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910) * Norman Twain (1930–2016), American film producer * Shania Twain (born 1965), Canadian singer-songwriter Places * Twain, California, a ...
's classic ''
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled ''A Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Some early editions are titled ''A Yankee at the Court of King Arth ...
'', only dramatising the difficulties, not the rewards, of such idealised situations. When the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
broke out, Ford took the side of the left Republican faction, declaring: "I am unhesitatingly for the existing Spanish Government and against Franco’s attempt—on every ground of feeling and reason...Mr Franco wishes to establish a government resting on the arms of Moors, Germans, Italians. Its success must be contrary to world conscience." His opinion of Mussolini and Hitler was likewise negative, and he offered to sign a manifesto against Nazism.


Promotion of literature

In 1908, Ford founded ''
The English Review ''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day. History The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (la ...
''. Ford published works by
Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...
, H. G. Wells,
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...
,
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
,
May Sinclair May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St. Clair (24 August 1863 – 14 November 1946), a popular British writer who wrote about two dozen novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers' ...
,
John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include '' The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize ...
and
William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
; and debuted works of
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
,
Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...
,
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
and
Norman Douglas George Norman Douglas (8 December 1868 – 7 February 1952) was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel '' South Wind''. His travel books, such as ''Old Calabria'' (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing. ...
. Ezra Pound and other Modernist poets in London in the teens particularly valued Ford's poetry as exemplifying treatment of modern subjects in contemporary diction. In 1924, he founded ''The Transatlantic Review'', a journal with great influence on modern literature. Staying with the artistic community in the Latin Quarter of
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, Ford befriended
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...
,
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
,
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...
,
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
and Jean Rhys, all of whom he would publish (Ford was the model for the character Braddocks in Hemingway's ''
The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...
'').
Basil Bunting Basil Cheesman Bunting (1 March 1900 – 17 April 1985) was a British modernist poet whose reputation was established with the publication of '' Briggflatts'' in 1966, generally regarded as one of the major achievements of the modernist traditio ...
worked as Ford's assistant on the magazine. As a critic, Ford is known for remarking "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you."
George Seldes Henry George Seldes ( ; November 16, 1890 – July 2, 1995) was an American investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, editor, author, and media critic best known for the publication of the newsletter ''In Fact'' from 1940 to 1950. He was a ...
, in his book '' Witness to a Century'', describes Ford ("probably in 1932") recalling his writing collaboration with Joseph Conrad, and the lack of acknowledgment by publishers of his status as co-author. Seldes recounts Ford's disappointment with Hemingway: "'and he disowns me now that he has become better known than I am.' Tears now came to Ford's eyes." Ford says, "I helped Joseph Conrad, I helped Hemingway. I helped a dozen, a score of writers, and many of them have beaten me. I'm now an old man and I'll die without making a name like Hemingway." Seldes observes, "At this climax Ford began to sob. Then he began to cry." Hemingway devoted a chapter of his Parisian memoir ''
A Moveable Feast ''A Moveable Feast'' is a 1964 memoir ''belles-lettres'' by American author Ernest Hemingway about his years as a struggling expat journalist and writer in Paris during the 1920s. It was published posthumously. The book details Hemingway's fir ...
'' to an encounter with Ford at a café in Paris during the early 1920s. He describes Ford "as upright as an ambulatory, well clothed, up-ended hogshead." During a later sojourn in the United States, Ford was involved with
Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Life Early years Tate was born near Winchester, ...
,
Caroline Gordon Caroline Ferguson Gordon (October 6, 1895 – April 11, 1981) was an American novelist and literary critic who, while still in her thirties, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932 and an O. Henry Award in 1934. Biography Gordon was born ...
,
Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 – September 18, 1980) was an American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. Her 1962 novel ''Ship of Fools'' was the best-selling novel in America that year, but her sh ...
and
Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the '' Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...
(who was then a student). Ford was always a champion of new literature and literary experimentation. In 1929, he published ''The English Novel: From the Earliest Days to the Death of Joseph Conrad'', a brisk and accessible overview of the history of English novels. He had an affair with Jean Rhys, which ended acrimoniously, which Rhys fictionalised in her novel ''
Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...
''.


Reception

Ford is best remembered for his novels ''
The Good Soldier ''The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion'' is a 1915 novel by the British writer Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I, and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly perfect marriage, along with that of his two A ...
'' (1915), the ''
Parade's End ''Parade's End'' is a tetralogy of novels by the British novelist and poet Ford Madox Ford, written from 1924 to 1928. The novels chronicle the life of a member of the English gentry before, during and after World War I. The setting is mainly ...
''
tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies f ...
(1924–1928) and ''
The Fifth Queen ''The Fifth Queen'' is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising ''The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court'' (1906), ''Privy Seal'' (1907), and ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (1908). It presents a highly ficti ...
''
trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
(1906–1908). ''The Good Soldier'' is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, ''The Observer''′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and ''The Guardian''′s "1000 novels everyone must read". The ''Parade's End'' tetralogy was made into an acclaimed BBC/HBO 5 part
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
in 2012, starring
Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Oli ...
and scripted by
Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...
.
Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...
described Ford as the "greatest British novelist" of the 20th century.
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
was also a great admirer, and more recently
Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', '' England, England'', and ''Art ...
who has written essays about Ford and his work. Professor
Max Saunders Max Saunders (born 24 June 1957) is a British academic and writer specialising in modern literature. He is the author of ''Imagined Futures: Writing, Science, and Modernity in the To-Day and To-Morrow Book Series, 1923-31'', ''Ford Madox Ford: A Dua ...
is the author of an authoritative biography of Ford, published in two volumes by Oxford University Press in 1996, as well as the editor for some of Ford's oeuvre reissued by the
Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was named the ''Sunday Times'' millennium Small Publisher of the Year. History ''Carcanet'' was originally a lit ...
.


Selected works

* ''The Shifting of the Fire'', as H Ford Hueffer, Unwin, 1892. * The Questions at the Well as Fenil Haig,1893 * ''The Brown Owl'', as H Ford Hueffer, Unwin, 1892. * ''The Queen Who Flew: A Fairy Tale'', Bliss Sands & Foster, 1894. * ''Ford Madox Brown : a record of his life and work'', as H Ford Hueffer, Longmans, Green, 1896. * ''The Cinque Ports'', Blackwood, 1900. * '' The Inheritors: An Extravagant Story'',
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...
and Ford M. Hueffer, Heinemann, 1901. * ''Rossetti'', Duckworth,
902 __NOTOC__ Year 902 ( CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Adalbert II, margrave of Tuscany, revolts against Emperor Louis I ...
* ''
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
'',
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...
and Ford M. Hueffer, Smith Elder, 1903. * ''The Benefactor'', Langham, 1905. * ''The Soul of London. A Survey of the Modern City'',
Alston Rivers Alston Rivers Ltd. was a London publishing firm. The firm originally consisted of the Hon L.J. Bathurst and R.B. Byles and had brought out the novels of Whyte Melville and the Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era the ...
, 1905. * ''The Heart of the Country. A Survey of a Modern Land'', Alston Rivers, 1906. * ''The Fifth Queen'' (Part One of ''
The Fifth Queen ''The Fifth Queen'' is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising ''The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court'' (1906), ''Privy Seal'' (1907), and ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (1908). It presents a highly ficti ...
'' trilogy), Alston Rivers, 1906. * ''Privy Seal'' (Part Two of ''
The Fifth Queen ''The Fifth Queen'' is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising ''The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court'' (1906), ''Privy Seal'' (1907), and ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (1908). It presents a highly ficti ...
'' trilogy), Alston Rivers, 1907. * ''The Spirit of the People. An Analysis of the English Mind'', Alston Rivers, 1907. * ''An English Girl'', Methuen, 1907. * ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (Part Three of ''
The Fifth Queen ''The Fifth Queen'' is trilogy of historical novels by English novelist Ford Madox Ford comprising ''The Fifth Queen: And How She Came to Court'' (1906), ''Privy Seal'' (1907), and ''The Fifth Queen Crowned'' (1908). It presents a highly ficti ...
'' trilogy), Nash, 1908. * ''Mr Apollo'', Methuen, 1908. * ''The Half Moon'', Nash, 1909. * ''A Call'', Chatto, 1910. * ''The Portrait'', Methuen, 1910. * ''The Critical Attitude'', as Ford Madox Hueffer, Duckworth 1911. * ''The Simple Life Limited'', as Daniel Chaucer, Lane, 1911. * ''
Ladies Whose Bright Eyes ''Ladies Whose Bright Eyes'' is a novel by Ford Madox Ford. It was written in 1911 and extensively revised in 1935. The first edition was published as by "Ford Madox Hueffer", the form of his name he used at that time. The revised edition was ...
'', Constable, 1911 (extensively revised in 1935). * ''The Panel'', Constable, 1912. * ''The New Humpty Dumpty'', as Daniel Chaucer, Lane, 1912. * ''Henry James'', Secker, 1913. * ''Mr Fleight'', Latimer, 1913. * ''The Young Lovell'', Chatto, 1913. * ''Antwerp'' (eight-page poem), The Poetry Bookshop, 1915. * ''Henry James, A Critical Study'' (1915). * ''Between St Dennis and St George'', Hodder, 1915. * ''
The Good Soldier ''The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion'' is a 1915 novel by the British writer Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I, and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly perfect marriage, along with that of his two A ...
'', Lane, 1915. * ''Zeppelin Nights'', with
Violet Hunt Isobel Violet Hunt (28 September 1862 – 16 January 1942) was a British author and literary hostess. She wrote feminist novels. She founded the Women Writers' Suffrage League in 1908 and participated in the founding of International PEN. Biog ...
, Lane, 1915. * ''The Marsden Case'', Duckworth, 1923. * ''Women and Men'', Paris, 1923. * ''Mr Bosphorous'', Duckworth, 1923. * '' The Nature of a Crime'', with
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...
, Duckworth, 1924. * ''Joseph Conrad, A Personal Remembrance'', Little, Brown and Company, 1924. * '' Some Do Not . . .'', (First in ''Parade's End'' tetralogy) Duckworth, 1924. * '' No More Parades'', Duckworth, 1925. * '' A Man Could Stand Up --'', Duckworth, 1926. * '' A Mirror To France. Duckworth. 1926 * ''New York is Not America'', Duckworth, 1927. * ''New York Essays'', Rudge, 1927. * ''New Poems'', Rudge, 1927. * ''
Last Post The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infantry and Australian infantry regiments, or a D or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery (Royal Horse Artillery and Ro ...
'', (Fourth in ''Parade's End'' tetralogy) Duckworth, 1928. * ''A Little Less Than Gods'', Duckworth,
928 Year 928 ( CMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Rudolph I loses the support of Herbert II, count of Vermandois, who controls the ...
* ''No Enemy'', Macaulay, 1929. * ''The English Novel: From the Earliest Days to the Death of Joseph Conrad'' (One Hour Series), Lippincott, 1929; Constable, 1930. * ''Return to Yesterday'', Liveright, 1932. * ''When the Wicked Man'', Cape, 1932. * ''The Rash Act'', Cape, 1933. * ''It Was the Nightingale'', Lippincott, 1933. * ''Henry for Hugh'', Lippincott, 1934. * ''Provence'', Unwin, 1935. * ''Ladies Whose Bright Eyes'' (revised version), 1935 * ''Portraits from Life: Memories and Criticism of Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Thomas Hardy, H.G. Wells, Stephen Crane, D.H. Lawrence, John Galsworthy, Ivan Turgenev, W.H. Hudson, Theodore Dreiser, A.C. Swinburne'', Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1937. * ''Great Trade Route'', OUP, 1937. * ''Vive Le Roy'', Unwin, 1937. * ''The March of Literature'', Dial, 1938. * ''Selected Poems'', Randall, 1971. * ''Your Mirror to My Times'', Holt, 1971. * ''A History of Our Own Times'', Indiana University Press, 1988.


References


Further reading

* Attridge, John, "Steadily and Whole: Ford Madox Ford and Modernist Sociology," in ''
Modernism/modernity ''Modernism/modernity'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1994 by Lawrence Rainey and Robert von Hallberg. History It covers methodological, archival, and theoretical approaches to modernist studies in the long moder ...
'' 15:2

April 2008), 297–315. * Contains a sharp, critical biographical sketch of Ford. * Hawkes, Rob, ''Ford Madox Ford and the Misfit Moderns: Edwardian Fiction and the First World War''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. * Goldring, Douglas, ''The Last Pre-Raphaelite: A Record of the Life and Writings of Ford Madox Ford''. Macdonald & Co., 1948 * Mizener, Arthur, ''The Saddest Story: A Biography of Ford Madox Ford''. World Publishing Co., 1971 * Judd, Alan, ''Ford Madox Ford''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991. * Saunders, Max, ''Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life'', 2 vols. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996. and * Thirlwell, Angela, ''Into the Frame: The Four Loves of Ford Madox Brown''. London, Chatto & Windus, 2010. *


External links

* * * * *
Ford Madox Ford Society
*
Literary Encyclopedia entry on Ford


* ttps://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1541 The Papers of Ford Madox Fordat Dartmouth College Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Ford Madox 1873 births 1939 deaths English agnostics English male poets English literary critics Imagists Modernist writers People educated at University College School Victorian writers 19th-century British writers 20th-century English novelists Olivet College faculty People from Wimbledon, London Writers from London English people of German descent English male novelists English historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period People from Winchelsea Lost Generation writers