The Essential Russell Martin is a collection of work by the internationally renowned writer that spans forty years. Collected here are three excerpts from novels and a novella, five articles, and excerpts from seven narrative nonfiction books-all of them published between the years 1983 and 2022. As he describes in the book's introduction, Martin has written often over the years about the work people choose to do and how they go about it. He has written about people with disabilities a number of times and has been lured by the inspired work of artists-painters, musicians, writers-who have achieved monumental creative heights. Both Europe and the New World have captured his attention, and he has always been as interested in history as the present moment. He written about death repeatedly, and once wrote about the young men, most of them actually still boys, who forged a football team that had a transcendent season.

When Colorado College awarded him an honorary doctorate, the citation read, in part, "Mr. Martin offers to general audiences precise and accurate, but highly readable, studies of extraordinarily complex issues. He does more: he sees beyond what is already known; he moves beyond synthesis to new insights. His work is disciplined, analytical, and creative. It is also profoundly humane."

This is an important retrospective collection of some of the very finest work by one of America's most celebrated writers.