The Secret History Of Modernism - Hardcover

Stead, C. K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1860469310 ISBN 13: 9781860469312

Publisher: The Harvill Press, 2002

Synopsis

The arrival of a stranger to his house in Auckland leads renowned novelist Laslo Winter to look back to the past, to London, the late 1950s. The Empire was collapsing, yet young "colonials", for whom England remained a mythical place, were still drawn there from its farthest corners. Samantha Conlan had come from Sydney, ostensibly fleeing an affair with married Freddy Goldstein, a Holocaust survivor. But Samantha knows Freddy will come to London; and as she waits for him, she continues her peculiar research into the great writers of the time, in a research project that she names "The Secret History of Modernism". Among her circle of friends and admirers is the young Laslo. Beautifully written, with wonderful clarity and humour, The Secret History of Modernism reflects on post-war England and its Empire in the wake of the greatest upheaval of the twentieth century.

About this title

About the Author

C. K. Stead was Professor of English at the University of Auckland until 1986. In 1984, he was awarded the CBE for services to New Zealand literature. He has published twelve volumes of poetry, two volumes of stories, a memoir and several works of criticism, edited the Penguin Modern Classics Letters and Journals of Katherine Mansfield and published several novels, including The Secret History of Modernism and Mansfield.

From the Inside Flap

writer Laszlo Winter thinks back to his time in London in the late 1950s. The Empire might be finished, but for young colonials , England remains a mythical place that draws them from the farthest corners of the globe.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Harvill Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1860469310
• ISBN 13: 9781860469312
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240