Edward Bulwer-Lytton (London, 1803 – Torquay, 1873) was a prolific novelist, playwright, and British politician, prominent in the Victorian period. He cultivated various literary genres, including historical novels, Gothic romance, and science fiction. Among his most recognized works is The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), a historical novel set in the ancient Roman city before its destruction by the eruption of Vesuvius. Other notable works include Zanoni (1842), The Haunted and the Haunters (1859), and The Coming Race (1871), also known as Vril, the Power of the Coming Race.
Bulwer-Lytton is remembered for coining famous phrases such as "The pen is mightier than the sword" and for the famous opening "It was a dark and stormy night" in his novel Paul Clifford (1830). His influence endures in literature and popular culture, and his legacy has been the subject of study and revaluation in contemporary literary criticism.
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