Leo Damrosch has taught at the universities of Virginia and Maryland and at Harvard University, where he is presently Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature. He has published books on such subjects as Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, William Blake, and the eighteenth-century novel, His biography Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius, was one of five finalists for the 2005 National Book Award in Nonfiction, and won the L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award for best work of nonfiction.