Title: Catastrophe and imagination
Description: Catastrophe and Imagination explores fiction in America and England from 1870 to 1950, measuring the impact of the twentieth century's wars on the literary imagination. McCormick holds that the novel has a unique relationship to society, and defines this in relation to the many catastrophes of his era - wars, revolutions, and other outrages on the social order.

After an initial survey of society in the novels of Jane Austen, Dickens, and Thackeray, to name only a few, he analyzes what the novel is not, with reference to the work of Virginia Woolf, John Steinbeck, and D. H. Lawrence.
Subjects: American fiction, Disasters in literature, English fiction, History and criticism, Literature and society, War and literature, English fiction, history and criticism, 20th century, American fiction, history and criticism, 20th century, English fiction, history and criticism, 19th century, American fiction, history and criticism, 19th century, LITERARY CRITICISM, European, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
Places: English-speaking countries
Time periods: 19th century, 20th century