Henrik Ibsen is regarded as the first major innovative modern dramatist. Creating new attitudes to theatre, he is credited with being one of the first to write about ordinary people in prose, abandoning traditional theatrical effects in favour of a new style of performance. This is a biography of the founding genius of modern European theatre.

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'Continuously rewarding...the model of what a biography of a great writer should be' Dennis Potter, The Times. Generally acknowledged as the founder of modern prose drama, Henrik Ibsen is now regarded as the first major innovative modern dramatist. Creating new attitudes to theatre, he is credited with being one of the first to write about ordinary people in prose, abandoning traditional theatrical effects in favour of a new style of performance. Michael Meyer is the world authority on Ibsen, and this highly acclaimed biography is regarded as the definitive life of the founding genius of modern European theatre.