Description
Priestley's England is the first full-length academic study of J B Priestley - novelist, playwright, screen-writer, journalist and broadcaster, political activist, public intellectual and popular entertainer, one of the makers of twentieth-century Britain, and one of its sharpest critics.
The book explores the cultural, literary and political history of twentieth-century Britain through the themes which preoccupied Priestley throughout his life: competing versions of Englishness; tradition, modernity, and the decline of industrial England; 'Americanisation', mass culture and 'Admass'; cultural values and 'broadbrow' culture; consumerism and the decay of the public sphere; the loss of spirituality and community in 'the nervous excitement, the frenzy, the underlying despair of our century'. It argues that Priestley has been unjustly neglected for too long: we have a great deal to learn both from this extraordinary, multi-faceted man, and from the English radical tradition he represented.
This book will appeal to all those interested in the culture and politics of twentieth-century Britain, in the continuing debates over 'Englishness' to which Priestley made such a key contribution, and in the life and work of one of the most remarkable and popular writers of the past century.
About the Author
John Baxendale is Visiting Fellow in History at Sheffield Hallam University
Reviews
'I have nothing but praise for this book. I agree with almost every word of it, but I like to think that even those who will disagree with it - who may feel it is too generous to Priestley (especially the later, more embittered Priestley), or to interwar mass culture, or to his relationship with his audiences - will appreciate its humanity, its craft, its insight, and its scrupulous- ness.' Peter Mandler, Professor of Cultural History at Cambridge University -- .
Book Information
ISBN 9780719072871
Author John Baxendale
Format Paperback
Page Count 228
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publisher Manchester University Press
Weight(grams) 354g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 13mm
