Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818) was educated at Oxford after which he held a position in the British Embassy at The Hague. It was there in 1794, that he wrote the racy novel THE MONK, under the influence of the early German romantics. Its controversial publication in 1796, due to Lewis' new status as MP, earned him fame and the book a great deal of popularity.
Christopher MacLachlan is a Lecturer at the University of St Andrews. He has published books and articles on Pope, Hume and Burns.