British Literature Since 1945

by George Watson

A literary study of the work and themes of certain British writers, poets and dramatists since 1945. Watson critically considers a range of literature, including that produced by Orwell, Osborne, Pinter, Tolkien, Stoppard and Lewis.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been searching on the library website for books about British literature about books written after World War II, and this one met the mark perfectly. Although George Watson's tone of voice is professorial and can be a bit dull at times, overall he does a good job in discussion the British novelists, short-story writers, and poets of the land. I learned about books I'd not heard of before and, as usual, being the OCD person that I am, wrote their titles in my notebook on which I keep a running list of books I'd like to, or think I'd like to at least, read at some point in time. I gathered approximately 35+ titles to search for at the library - thank goodness for the system our library calls "Link", through which you can request books from universities all over the state of California. It's a rare occasion when I can't locate a book that I want to read and request it. A few days later, the book turns up at my library branch and I run over and check it out. Usually these books turn out to be well worth my time.

Among the writers whose books are discussed in "British Literature Since 1945" are L.P. Hartley, Ford Maddox Ford, George Orwell, Olivia Manning, Dame Rebecca West, and more. Hence my to-read list's growing, because many of these books, the novels in particular, appear to be of the kind I generally enjoy.

Overall assessment: "British Literature Since 1945" is a very good introduction to the literature of Britain written after World War II had ended.