This book is about the radical transformation of British literary culture during the period 1880 to 1914 as seen through the early publishing careers of Joseph Conrad, Arnold Bennett and Arthur Conan Doyle. Peter D. McDonald examines the cultural politics of the period by considering the social structure of the literary world in which these writers worked. By tracing the complex network of relationships among writers, publishers, reviewers and readers, McDonald demonstrates the importance of social history and publishing to questions of critical interpretation.

This book is about the radical transformation of British literary culture during the period 1880 to 1914 as seen through the early publishing careers of Joseph Conrad, Arnold Bennett and Arthur Conan Doyle. Peter D. McDonald examines the cultural politics of the period by considering the social structure of the literary world in which these writers worked. By tracing the complex network of relationships among writers, publishers, reviewers and readers, McDonald demonstrates the importance of social history and publishing to questions of critical interpretation.

Some forms of literature interfere with the workings of the literate brain, posing a challenge to readers of all kinds, including professional literary critics. In Artefacts of Writing, Peter D. McDonald argues they pose as much of a challenge to the way states conceptualise language, culture, and community. Drawing on a wealth of evidence, from Victorian scholarly disputes over the identity of the English language to the constitutional debates about its future in Ireland, India, and South Africa, and from the quarrels over the idea of culture within the League of Nations in the...