This wide-ranging study of British writers of the 1930s examines the masterpieces of that momentous decade, not in linguistic isolation, but in the contexts--social, political, historical, ideological, and personal--in which they were composed. Cunningham maps out the dominant images and concerns, nothing less than the central obsessions and imposing images of the '30s imagination. He analyzes the obsession with violence, the "destructive element" of post-World War consciousness; the cult of youth, of schools and schoolmasters; the infatuation with heroes--flyers, mountaineers, and racing car drivers--and the related concern about "being small," weak, or neurotic in an age of mass politics. In order to illustrate this kaleidoscope of themes, Cunningham examines not only the canonical texts, but also "minor" forms and writings, including detective stories, films, and popular songs, showing how these neglected genres also illuminate the work of this period.

Product Description: In this critical tour de force , Valentine Cunningham offers a sequence of controversial arguments in favour of the worldly stuff of texts, a commodity that he sees to be still too commonly discredited, down-played and repressed by post-modernist theory and practice...read more

Product Description: In this punning title the central issues of contemporary literary theory compete for attention. The author's contention is that much recent theorizing, in its emphasis on closed texts, solipsistic narratives and the absence of extra-textual reference, has imprisoned reading in a gaol of its own making...read more

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Product Description: Offering a vivid, moving, and often surprising, cross-section of the writing generated by the most momentous political and cultural flashpoint of the 1930s--the Spanish Civil War--this anthology contains works by a vast array of prominent literary figures, including W...read more

Alphabetically arranged entries provide a chronological survey of various aspects of American popular culture, including film, television, magazines, comic books, and best-selling books.

Product Description: This magnificent anthology presents the cornucopia of Victorian poetry within a single volume. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Set in the Charente country and the Paris music halls of the 1930s, The Voyage tells of the travails of one man’s quest for love—love for a woman, and love for France. Available once more to a modern readership, the story that is widely regarded as Charles Morgan’s finest work is that rare thing: a novel with appeal across ages and tastes...read more