This first biography of Racine in over half a century for an Englishlanguage readership also traces the impact of Racine over three centuries in England as well as France. The plays and their reception are reviewed using contextual approaches as part of each phase of Racines lifestory with excerpts and quotations translated. Racines upbringing and work as poet and historiographer are related to the France of Louis XIV to audiences and to advancement for this man from nowhere with parallels in Britain and elsewhere. Changing attitudes to Racine are traced across the centuries across literary movements and on stage including recent productions. The book provides insights in the specialist field of Racine studies and seventeenthcentury French literature and theatre in comparative literary studies particularly between France and Restoration England and to the interaction of Racine and European cultural movements to the present day.