More searchingly than any earlier biographer, Philip Callow explores the development of Van Gogh's genius and his emergence as an artist after early struggles to find a vocation, first in the world of art dealing and later as an evangelical missionary among Belgian miners. Using the skills and psychological insights of an accomplished novelist, and drawing upon new Van Gogh materials which have surfaced in the last two decades, Mr. Callow sets a turbulent life story firmly in historical context, including Vincent's desperate attempts to accept his repressive religious upbringing, and his unhappy experiences in love. Here is Van Gogh's life in all its tumult, a portrait of a legend breaking out of the triumph and confusion of nineteenth-century culture - at the same time representing it uniquely. This is perhaps the story of a saint, certainly a hero of art.