The Vision of J.B. Priestley

Roger Fagge

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781441168269
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Drawing on private and published sources, Roger Fagge takesan in-depth look at J.B. Priestley's work, seeking to reclaim him as an important English thinker. Priestley grew up in Bradford, and served on the front line in the First World War, before attending Cambridge and embarking on a career as a writer. A committed radical, he wrote widely for the press, as well as producing autobiographies, social criticism and plays. Thisworkrevealed a growing interest in the meaning of Englishness and the start of a long-running relationship with America. Priestley achieved even greater influence during the early years of World War II via his popular BBC radio 'postscripts'. His later career, however, saw his faith in the people give way to a disillusionment with the spread of the Americanised mass society, although his critical response to the latter maintained a perceptive engagement with world. The Vision of J.B. Priestley charts the continuities, strengths and weaknesses in the author's long career, and his vision of an outward looking radical Englishness.

Table of contents

• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• chapter1 Priestley, Politics and Class
• chapter2 Priestley and England Between the Wars
• chapter3 Priestley, the ‘People’ and the Second World War
• chapter4 The Disillusioning of Mr. Priestley
• chapter5 Priestley, Admass and the United States
• chapter6 Late Priestley
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index