By identifying and analyzing the leading works and authors in modern English literature, this book provides the reader with an engaging and knowledgeable insight into the books, their writers and the connections between them. From Graham Greene to Margaret Atwood to contemporary favorites like 1984, The Catcher in the Rye and Midnight's Children, this crucial guide is an introduction to the literary classics written post-1914.

Each entry is arranged alphabetically by author and gives an opening quotation from a key text, brief biographical details of the author, and a list of other major works in addition to a more general discussion of the writer's work. The book also contains an extremely useful set of contextual essays, giving an important overview of cross-referenced to the entries on authors, plus a glossary of literary terms and a timeline for instant reference.