This study of John Masefield includes an account of the author's own meetings with Masefield and his importance in influencing her work. John Masefield had a life as varied as his work, working both in New York and England, where he wrote for The Guardian newspaper, and serving with the Red Cross in World War II. His Collected Poems appeared in 1923 and in 1930 he succeeded Bridges as Poet Laureate. Masefield was also a novelist and essayist and his work includes The Everlasting Mercy, Dauber, Reynard the Fox, Sard Harker and The Midnight Folk. This book traces the development of Masefield as a storyteller and his gift for observing the life around him. Muriel Spark is the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Abbess of Crewe and A Far Cry from Kensington. She was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1956 for The Mandelbaum Gate.