Riven by world wars and cold wars, atrocities and genocides, the twentieth-century was also one of sexual, cultural and ideological revolutions, each inscribed across the fictions it produced. This fascinating new volume re-examines the twentieth-century novel as a form shaped by its problematic, often scandalous relation to the public sphere. Discussing ten groundbreaking texts against the challenges of their milieux, it considers twentieth century fiction as a tradition of transgression, perennially caught between license and licentiousness, erudition and sedition.