Baring, Maurice (1874–1945)

English writer. His work includes poetical plays, short stories, fairy tales, essays, novels (notably The Lonely Lady of Dulwich 1934), translations, and several books about Russian literature.

Baring was born in London and educated at Cambridge. In 1899 he entered the diplomatic service and held posts successively in Paris, Copenhagen, and Rome, but in 1904 decided to abandon diplomacy for a literary career. When the Russo-Japanese war broke out that year, he became war correspondent of the Morning Post in Manchuria, and was afterwards a special correspondent in Russia, Constantinople, and the Balkans. These experiences are described in Letters from the Near East (1909), The Puppet Show of Memory (1922), and the novels Tinker's Leave (1927) and Friday's Business (1933). Other novels include Cat's Cradle (1925), Daphne Adeane (1926), The Coat without Seam (1929), and Robert Peckham (1930). His Collected Poems were published (1925).