Britannica Guide to Authors

Starting at the dawn of the 20th century, writers began experimenting with literary styles as never before. As perhaps the most far-reaching movement, Modernism swept across both the United States and Europe and has been embodied in the works of such writers as Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot. The existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett's absurdist writings, and the range of literary output from around the world also reflect the spirit of the period. The lives and works of these and other authors from across the globe are surveyed in this absorbing volume.

Since ancient times, storytelling has been a valued art form that enables traditions, beliefs, and lessons to be transmitted from one generation to the next. Epics such as Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid and tales such as those contained in the collected The Thousand and One Nights offer modern-day readers a glimpse into various countries and cultures, as well as different eras. The individuals and works profiled in this absorbing volume have withstood the test of time, remaining culturally significant and influencing authors and readers alike for centuries.

Reason, rationality, and reform were perhaps the biggest buzzwords of the Enlightenment era and the themes of much of the writing that appeared at that time. As thinkers increasingly began turning a critical eye towards accepted beliefs and practices, such luminaries as Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine took up their pens to illuminate the social injustices and injuries to personal freedom that pervaded their societies. The fascinating lives of these writers and many others-running the gamut from novelists, dramatists, and poets to satirists, social critics, and more-are profiled within these pages.

Contemporary literature encompasses so many genres, literary forms, and themes that it would seem almost impossible to identify a unifying thread between them. Yet in the tradition established by literary heavyweights who came before, modern writers of all stripes and backgrounds have continued to entertain and to confront the social, cultural, and psychological realities of the times-including everything from racial identity to war to technology-with their own flair and insight. The diversity of authors profiled herein-from Toni Morrison to Sylvia Plath to Stephen King to David Foster Wallace-attests to the scope and complexity of modern society.

From Romanticism to Realism, the 19th century saw a flourishing of literary movements, as well as the arrival of several now-revered luminaries on the literary scene. Authors experimented with new styles that elevated the novel as a significant literary form, while new techniques and themes were also introduced into poetry and drama. These compelling profiles examine the lives of some of the 19th century's greatest writers-Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Leo Tolstoy, to name just a few-and reveal the remarkable stories behind the works they crafted.

As Europe's religious, social, economic, and cultural identity began to take more definite shape in the medieval and Renaissance eras, so too did its literary identity. By capturing in ink the spirit of these transformative periods, such literary giants as Geoffrey Chaucer, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and John Milton laid the foundations for literature, drama, and poetry today. Readers will be introduced to these and other notable figures from around the world whose works have had an equally enduring impact on the global literary canon.