1. The Twentieth Century Modern English Literature
Review pages

2. WW I Horror of war inspires many writers
Men of entire villages killed (eg. Battle of Somme 1916)
Trench warfare offered no romance, little heroism
WW I did not appear to be a “just war”
New writing—detached from world events—disillusionment
Poets writing in many voices (to express the many competing feelings they experienced)
FASCISM: Hitler, Mussolini, Japan’s military, Spanish Civil war
George Orwell: “They were sleeping the deep, deep sleep of England….we shall never wake but by the roar of bombs”
WW II : effect of civilian life was terrible
Post WW II—break up of the British Empire, through nationalism in the commonwealth countries and through the need for Britain to sell its assets to pay its war debts.