Written especially for students and assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, David Trotter's "The English Novel in History 1895-1920" provides a comprehensive introduction to early 20th-century fiction This study embraces the whole range of early 20th-century fiction, from avant-garde innovations to popular mass-market genres. Separate sections are devoted to James, Conrad, Kipling, Bennett, Lawrence, Lewis, and Joyce. It establishes a classification of literary styles in the period. Based on this classification, it offers an account of the subject-matters which preoccupied writers of all kinds: gender, race, nationality, sexual psychology, production and consumption. "The English Novel in History" aims to redefine our understanding of literary Modernism, and should be useful reading for all students of modern English literature.
