Book excerpt: In this first biography of Emerson, he gives a vivid picture of how the college came to be such a special place. But this is not a dry history of an organisation: it is brought to life with vibrant descriptions of many people, including the colleges founders Francis and Elizabeth Edmunds and John Davy, but also students, teachers, cooks, gardeners, accountants, administrators, and many others. Spence studies the anthroposophic spiritual basis that formed the bedrock of the college.