Download or read book The Penguin Book of Twentieth-century Essays written by Ian Hamilton and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether highly personal, polemical, philosophical or playful, the essays in this fascinating collection capture their times with wit, urgency, erudition and insight. Decade by decade, the greatest British and American writers span the twentieth century, including Orwell's 'England Your England', Nancy Mitford on the upper classes, Fitzgerald's 'Crack Up', James Baldwin's harrowing 'Notes of a Native Son', Martin Amis on US politics, Tom Wolfe on 'radical chic' and Julian Barnes on the Thatcher years.