The scholar of English literature Christine Berberich, reviewing Birns's "Understanding Anthony Powell" for "Modernism/modernity", described it as "a labor of love" and "a laudable task" undertaken with a "thorough knowledge of the subject matter", though she regretted the lack of discussion of the "influence of fascism on the British upper classes" in the 1930s, and of the holocaust, whereas the lesser-known Katyn massacre was covered in detail.