Book description
William Henry Davies was born in a pub and learnt early in life to
rely on his wits and his fistsÂ-and to drink. Around the turn of the
century, when he was twenty-two, his restless spirit of adventure led
him to set off for America, and he worked around the country taking
casual jobs where he could, thieving and begging where he couldn't.
His experiences were richly coloured by the bullies, tricksters, and
fellow-adventurers he encountered. He was thrown into prison in
Michigan, beaten up in New Orleans, witnessed a lynching in Tennessee,
and got drunk pretty well everywhere. When George Bernard Shaw first
read the Autobiography in manuscript, he was stunned by the raw power
of its unvarnished narrative. It was his enthusiasm, expressed in the
Preface, that ensured the initial success of a book now regarded as a
classic.. With a foreword by broadcaster and foreign correspondent,
Trevor Fishlock, this Library of Wales edition also includes the
original preface by George Bernard Shaw, who was instrumental in the
book's first publication.
