The Autobiography of Charles Darwin is the biography of naturalist Charles Darwin, written by Darwin himself from late May 1876 to early August of the same year. Over the course of the book, Darwin reminisces over his career from the landmark On the Origins of Species to the The Descent of Man and his life in general (one of Darwin's many famous quotes came from this book: “If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week"). But Darwin pays special attention to his family and his children, one of whom, Francis edited the book for his father. This was met with some controversy. In editing the book, Francis omitted passages in his fathers book that were critical of God and Christianity in order to protect Charles' reputation. 100 years after publication, Darwin's granddaughter Nora Barlow restored these sections, finally making the book complete and as Darwin intended it to be.
Upon release, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin received very good reviews. On Amazon, it holds a very respectable rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars. On Goodreads.com, a book review aggregating site, it holds a solid - albeit less respectable - rating of 3.85 out of 5 stars. Reads a review on a Blogspot website: "Originally written in 1876 at the ripe old age of 67, Darwin’s autobiography is a well-thought over self-reflection of the life of a scientist and shy recluse." It is in the public domain and available for free at Project Gutenberg, a site that makes available for free works in the public domain.
