Ford Madox Ford: Prose and Politics

This text shows how Ford Madox Ford responded to the changes in European politics and culture before, during, and after the First World War.

Robert Green (Author)

9780521137034, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 February 2010

236 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.3 kg

Critical studies of Ford Madox Ford have generally been formalist in approach, seeking to demonstrate the novelist's technical innovations. In this book, Dr Green acknowledges Ford's success as a revolutionary technician, but argues also the importance of the particular historical context in which he wrote. This 1981 text shows for the first time how Ford responded to the astonishingly rapid changes in European politics and culture before, during, and after the First World War. Ford's critical reputation is firmly established. His greatest achievements are undoubtedly The Good Soldier and the war quartet, Parade's End. Though Dr Green also considers in some detail Ford's lesser-known fiction and the non-fictional prose, his main purpose is to provide a fresh context in which to view the major novels. As Ford's reputation as an essayist, editor and novelist continues to grow, this book makes a major contribution to our appreciation of his art.

Preface
Abbreviations
Part I. 1891–1909: 1. The early years
2. The 'Fifth Queen' trilogy: the politics of nostalgia
Part II. 1910–1915: 3. Georgian pessimism: sketches for The Good Soldier
4. The Good Soldier: the politics of agnosticism
Part III. 1916–1928: 5. The novelist of reconstruction
6. Parade's End
Part IV. 1929–1939: 7. Ford's last novels: 'the small producer'
8. The shape of an achievement
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]