William Godwin Biography

William Godwin was the father of philosophical anarchism, and was also a prominent a novelist and journalist. He is best-remembered for two of his works, ‘An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice’ and ‘Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams’, which received great acclamation from all around the world. Owing to the success of both of his novels, soon he became a known face in the radical circles of London. A brilliant writer, he also influenced the British culture to a great extent. The French revolution profoundly influenced the course of Godwin’s career and he gave up his position as minister of Beaconsfield, in order to give wings to his literary dreams. Godwin’s political ideas influenced great writers like Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Towards the end of his life, he concentrated on writing novels, the post popular ones being, ‘Mandeville’, ‘Cloudesley’ and ‘Deloraine’. He also wrote a collection of interesting essays on education, literary and social topics and, for some time, focused on writing children’s primers on Biblical and classical history. Today, he is remembered as one of those literary and political figures who contributed immensely in shaping British literature and culture. Explore this biography to learn more about his life and works.