Peter Robinson was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1953, and grew up mainly in Liverpool. He holds degrees from the universities of York and Cambridge. Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Reading and poetry editor for Two Rivers Press, he is the author of many books, especially of poetry and translation, for some of which he has been awarded the Cheltenham Prize, the John Florio Prize, and two Poetry Book Society Recommendations.

'Vigorously and wittily argued, Robinson’s book is an excellent and provocative contribution to a complex debate.'Justin Quinn, Times Literary Supplement

• Preface1. On First Looking2. What Is Lost?3. Thou Art Translated4. The Art of the Impossible5. Nostalgia for World Culture6. Translating the ‘Foreign’7. The Quick and the DeadBibliographyIndex

Peter Robinson was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1953, and grew up mainly in Liverpool. He holds degrees from the universities of York and Cambridge. Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Reading and poetry editor for Two Rivers Press, he is the author of many books, especially of poetry and translation, for some of which he has been awarded the Cheltenham Prize, the John Florio Prize, and two Poetry Book Society Recommendations.

'Vigorously and wittily argued, Robinson’s book is an excellent and provocative contribution to a complex debate.'Justin Quinn, Times Literary Supplement

• Preface1. On First Looking2. What Is Lost?3. Thou Art Translated4. The Art of the Impossible5. Nostalgia for World Culture6. Translating the ‘Foreign’7. The Quick and the DeadBibliographyIndex

Peter Robinson was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1953, and grew up mainly in Liverpool. He holds degrees from the universities of York and Cambridge. Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Reading and poetry editor for Two Rivers Press, he is the author of many books, especially of poetry and translation, for some of which he has been awarded the Cheltenham Prize, the John Florio Prize, and two Poetry Book Society Recommendations.

'Vigorously and wittily argued, Robinson’s book is an excellent and provocative contribution to a complex debate.'Justin Quinn, Times Literary Supplement

• Preface1. On First Looking2. What Is Lost?3. Thou Art Translated4. The Art of the Impossible5. Nostalgia for World Culture6. Translating the ‘Foreign’7. The Quick and the DeadBibliographyIndex