This thesis is the first biography of the novelist, critic, editor, bookseller, publisher, historian and literary translator David Garnnett (1892-1981). It places his writing and literary work within an historical, critical and cultural framework which goes some way towards restoring his literary reputation and status. The thesis charts Garnett's life from birth to death, bringing in certain perceptions of heredity and antecedents which were important to him. It explores the influences on his writing and on the life choices he made. It places him in the context of other writers and artists, particularly those of the Bloomsbury Group with whom he was closely associated. But it also reveals that such affiliations were part of a much broader connection of cultural networks within Britain, Europe and, at times, the USA. Today, Garnett is mostly remembered as a self-confessed libertine, and for ma11'ying the much younger daughter of his former male lover. In contextualising the belief systems which motivated Grunett's emotional choices, in examining his personal life from his perspective, this thesis elucidates and situates the libertine stereotype which has so influenced his afterlife and reputation.