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Christopher Bigsby's masterful two-volume biography of Arthur Miller sheds new light on one of the twentieth century's most acclaimed literary figures.  Plays such as Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge, and The Crucible brought Miller an international following, and events such as his refusal to provide information to the House Un-American Activities Committee and his marriage to Marilyn Monroe kept him in the public eye.  The second half of his life, the focus of this volume, proved no less fascinating.  In 1962, Monroe died, and he married photographer Inge Morath, a relationship that transformed him as a writer and as a person. His activism in support of political and social causes only increased during the period, including criticism of U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam and contemporary conflicts in the Middle East. In this period of his life, he also became renowned for his work in support of dissident writers in Russia, Czechoslovakia, China, and elsewhere.

The second volume of this magisterial biography offers a compelling narrative of a singular American life, a life story enriched by the biographer's uncommon access to Miller and his unpublished papers while researching this book. The result is an authoritative biography that provides illuminating detail and invaluable insights into the Miller the artist and Miller the man.

Jeffrey D. Mason's Stone Tower sets out to enrich -- and challenge --traditional views of playwright Arthur Miller. While Miller has long been acclaimed as a social dramatist, this fresh appraisal clearly establishes him as an essentially political playwright. The book pays close attention not only to the public and private power relations in Miller's dramatic works but also in his nondramatic writings. Stone Tower begins with a detailed critique of Miller's 1956 testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and of his published essays on topics ranging from Nazism to the contested presidential election of 2000. Mason moves on to explore Miller's dramatic works, presenting All My Sons and Death of a Salesman as plays that stage the political in personal terms, then offering The Crucible and The Archbishop's Ceiling as explorations of the personal in political terms. The book provides invaluable insights on Miller's theatrical response to the Holocaust in Incident at Vichy, Broken Glass, Playing for Time, and After the Fall. It offers revealing analyses of Miller's treatment of women throughout his plays and aspects of male domination in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Mason concludes with Miller's late satire Resurrection Blues as evidence that the playwright's mistrust of authority and social power remained unresolved. With attention to staging issues, social history, and dramatic analysis, the book explores the impact of this canonical American dramatist, breaks new ground in Miller studies, and suggests the deeper implications and extensive engagement of the American theater of the latter twentieth century. Stone Tower opens up new territory in Miller studies by exploring the political impact of this canonical American dramatist. This book should be useful to theater scholars and students, as well as readers who want to familiarize themselves with Miller's work.