Books by Joseph Brooker

Relates developments in fiction, poetry and drama to social change - from the new generation of London novelists such as Martin Amis and Ian McEwan to the impact of feminism in the writing of Angela Carter and Jeanette Winterson.

The 1980s were a time of tumultuous transition in Britain. While the Cold War was ending, Margaret Thatcher's government reinvented the postwar consensus of Britain's social landscape. This wide-ranging study follows such developments across fiction, poetry, and drama, as well as other cultural forms, such as television, film, and music. It maps changes in society while also paying close attention to literary forms and textures that, by the end of the decade, left Britain a very different place. Specifically, the volume describes the impact of a new generation of London novelists and the affect of feminism, postmodernism, literary theory, working-class reactions to Thatcherism, black British writing, and reflexive and self-conscious modes of writing. Writers discussed include Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Angela Carter, Jeanette Winterson, Salman Rushdie, James Kelman, Fred D'Aguiar, Grace Nichols, and Alan Hollinghurst.