This is one title in a series of short, illustrated biographies. They tell the stories of those who have shaped our present and our past, from Beethoven to Dietrich and from Einstein to Churchill.

Oscar Wilde, self-styled master of the bon mot turned Victorian bogeyman, was resurrected by a more liberal age as St Oscar, slayer of the hypocrisy-dragon. The fat Irishman with the golden tongue had posthumously proved that the world is not black and white. His wit and his paradoxes were understood as profound and moral; his best plays were recognised as gems of English comedy. His most celebrated works include The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance and Salome.