For many people the art of John William Waterhouse exerts an immediate and powerful appeal, attested in the nineteenth century by his popularity and continuing success and in the twentieth century by the use of his pictures as a vehicle for advertising and by their ever-rising saleroom value. This appeal is not too difficult to define. Superficially, there is the everlastingly attractive image of the young innocent girl: in Waterhouse's art this has a quality which is timeless and yet has accorded with the fashionable taste both in his period and ours. But the roots go deeper, and they are shared by many of us.

During his lifetime Waterhouse was acclaimed as one of England's finest artists, and his paintings of Ophelia, the Lady of Shalott and Pandora remain archetypal Victorian images. Anthony Hobson brings over 90 works together in five chapters, each dedicated to a specific period in Waterhouse's life. His succinct prose is informative, passionate, and a tribute to his subject's art.