Romantic Moderns

In this new and engaging study Alex Harris presents a confident case for the interest and importance of the English arts during the modern period. During the 1930s and 1940s, a rich network of cultural and personal encounters was the backdrop for a modern English renaissance, with English artists exploring what it meant to be alive at that moment and in England. Harris examines the work of writers, painters, gardeners, architects, critics and composers, some well known and some almost forgotten: John Betjeman, Florence White, Evelyn Waugh, Elizabeth Bowen, the Sitwells, John Piper, Cecil Beaton and more.

Review: 'A joy to read ... the originality of Romantic Moderns is the extraordinary breadth of its focus' - Sunday Times

'It would be impossible to over-emphasise what a clever book Romantic Moderns is ... not just an important book but a deeply pleasurable one, too' - Guardian (Book of the Week)

'Teems with fascinating detail ... Well researched, wide-ranging and generously illustrated, the book contains many delights and surprises' - Daily Telegraph

'Brilliant, delightfully readable ... thoroughly invigorating' - Financial Times 

 Prologue * 1. Ancient & Modern * 2. Concrete and Curlicues * 3. A Georgian Revival 4. Victoriana * 5. From Purity to a Pageant * 6. A Break for Refreshments * 7. The Canon Revised * 8. The Weather Forecast * 9. Village Life * 10. Parish News * 11. Variations on a View * 12. An Hour in the Garden * 13. Dreaming of Manderley * 14. House Building * 15. Literary Architecture