Priestley's England : J.B. Priestley and English culture / John Baxendale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baxendale, John, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Priestley, J. B. (John Boynton), 1894-1984--Criticism and interpretation.

Priestley, J. B.

Priestley, J. B. (John Boynton), 1894-1984--Political and social views.

Priestley, J. B. / (John Boynton) / 1894-1984.

Authors, English--20th century.

Authors, English.

Local Subjects:

Priestley, J. B. / (John Boynton) / 1894-1984.

Authors, English--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 213 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book provides an 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. From his scathing analysis of a slump-stricken nation in the best-selling English Journey, to his popular wartime broadcasts that paved the way to 1945 and the welfare state, his post-war critique of 'Admass' and the Cold War (he was a co-founder of CND), and his continual engagement with the question of 'Englishness', Priestley addressed the key issues of the century from a radical standpoint in fiction, journalism and plays which appealed to a wide audience and made him one of the most successful writers of his day, in a career that spanned the 1920s to the 1980s. The book explores the cultural, literary and political history of twentieth-century Britain through the themes that 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; and 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 multi-faceted man, and from the English radical tradition he represented.

Contents:

1. 'A serious writer with a message'

2. Bruddersford and beyond

3. Englands and Englishness

4. This new England

5. Priestley's war

6. 'Now we must live up to ourselves': New Jerusalem and beyond.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 15 May 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781847796448

1847796443

9781781700662

1781700664

9781847791320

1847791328

OCLC:

818847256