30 Great Myths about the Romantics

30 Great Myths about the Romantics is a scholarly yet accessible work of literary revisionism that seeks to reassert the humanity of late Georgian and Regency writers by dismantling long-held misconceptions. Duncan Wu systematically challenges popular caricatures, such as the image of the Romantics as solitary, drug-addled, atheistic rock stars, and replaces them with nuanced historical truths that emphasize the reality of their lives over modern fantasy.

The text explores 30 specific myths, ranging from the origins of the movement in 1798 to scandalous rumors regarding the personal lives of figures like Wordsworth, Byron, and Keats. By situating these writers within their actual socio-political context, rather than through the lens of retrospective labels they never used, Wu argues that Romanticism is best understood as a diverse, localized, and creative response to a complex era.