T. S. Eliot in Context

Description

T. S. Eliot's work demands much from his readers. The more the reader knows about his allusions and range of cultural reference, the more rewarding are his poems, essays and plays. This book is carefully designed to provide an authoritative and coherent examination of those contexts essential to the fullest understanding of his challenging and controversial body of work. It explores a broad range of subjects relating to Eliot's life and career; key literary, intellectual, social and historical contexts; as well as the critical reception of his oeuvre. Taken together, these chapters sharpen critical appreciation of Eliot's writings and present a comprehensive, composite portrait of one of the twentieth century's pre-eminent men of letters. Drawing on original research, T. S. Eliot in Context is a timely contribution to an exciting reassessment of Eliot's life and works, and will provide a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, students and general readers.

Jason Harding is Reader in English Studies, Durham University and Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of English Studies, University of London.

'[T. S. Eliot in Context] is a highly useful volume. Many of the essays illuminate with a personal perspective well-informed, solid accounts of essential topics in Eliot studies. Others synthesize recent developments in Eliot scholarship the authors themselves have pioneered, or else flesh out interestingly idiosyncratic critical approaches to their subjects. Finally, there are a few essays that, fulfilling Harding's hopes, provide thick description of adjacent historical materials and open up genuinely fresh scholarly approaches to Eliot's work.' Modernism/Modernity