The three lives of Joseph Conrad

1972 Houghton Mifflin hardcover, Olivia E Coolidge (Lives of Famous Romans). In her selection of title Coolidge seems to be demanding comparison with Gurko's The Two Lives of Joseph Conrad (1965), but the choice between these two superior biographies is by no means all that clear-cut. Coolidge's is the more scrupulous; where Gurko selects judiciously from contradictory hints and reports -- omitting entirely such problematical areas as the early gunshot wound (duel or attempted suicide?) -- Coolidge presents the reader with all conflicting evidence before announcing her own conclusion. - Kirkus review