A flamboyant polymath, General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (1827–1900) was influential in four fields during his lifetime: military training, anthropology, archaeology and public education. Yet very little is known about his career, character, or motivation. Mark Bowden has written an entertaining and thoroughly researched biography of the General, which describes his stormy relationships with his wife, children, colleagues, tenants and dependants; his military career; his activities in public education; and his contributions to anthropology and archaeology. In particular he assesses his impact as excavator, field archaeologist, theoretician and first Inspector of Ancient Monuments on the development of British archaeology. This is the most complete biography of a controversial man whose methods and ideals have been much quoted but frequently misunderstood and misrepresented.
