A portrait of the author of "Alice in Wonderland" analyzes contradictory aspects of his character, tapping recently discovered sources to set Carroll's life in the context of Victorian England, and assesses his financial difficulties and his relationship with the real Alice.

'My father and mother were honest though poor-- ' : family -- 'You can do arithmetic, I trust?' : Oxford life -- 'Nose in the middle, mouth under' : the human body -- 'This strange wild man from other lands' : love and sex -- 'Children are three-fourths of my life' : children -- 'Child of the pure unclouded brow' : Alice -- 'That awful mystery' : religion and the supernatural -- 'And would you be a poet?' : literature and storytelling -- ' -- took the Camera of Rosewood' : photography -- 'He offered large discount, he offered a cheque' : money -- Appendix. Report of Dr Yvonne Hart on Carroll's neurological symptoms.