**The abridged memoirs of Anthony Powell, with a new introduction from Louisa Young**'Powell can offer many of the rewards of comic creation we find in a Dickens or a Jane Austen' TLS Anthony Powell earned a reputation as a literary giant within the generation of Waugh, Orwell and Greene, best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time.These memoirs reveal Powell - the man and author - providing an insider's view of the British literary scene and social elite from the 1920s to the 1980s. In these pages, Powell observes the obscenity trial sparked by Lady Chatterley's Lover, and Shirley Temple's libel suit after Graham Greene reviewed Wee Willie Winkie with 'more than his usual verve'. Throughout, Powell paints vivid, witty and superbly written portraits of his contemporaries, other authors including Kingsley Amis, V.S. Naipaul, T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.Featuring an illuminating new introduction by Louisa Young, TO KEEP THE BALL ROLLING is the abridged version of Anthony Powell's four volumes of memoir, first published between 1976 and 1982.

_________________________The first three volumes of Anthony Powell's remarkable A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME sequence: A QUESTION OF UPBRINGING; A BUYER'S MARKET; THE ACCEPTANCE WORLD'One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat.' - Michael PalinAnthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations. These first three novels in the sequence follow Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles which stand between them and the 'Acceptance World'.

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.Volume 2 contains the second three novels in the sequence: At Lady Molly's; Casanova's Chinese Restaurant; The Kindly Ones

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.Volume 4 contains the last three novels in the sequence: Books do Furnish a Room; Temporary Kings; Hearing Secret Harmonies.

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.Volume 3 contains the seventh, eighth and ninth novel in the series: The Valley of Bones; The Soldier's Art; The Military Philosophers

NOW IN ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘Wonderfully observed ... true, funny, stylistically dazzling.’ The Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in its 75th anniversary year, this first volume is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this first volume, Nick Jenkins, freshly introduced to the ebbs and flows of life at boarding school in the 1920s, spends his time in the company of his new friends: Peter Templer, Charles Stringham, and Kenneth Widmerpool.Though their days are filled with visits from relatives and boyish pranks, usually at the expense of their housemaster, Le Bas, a disastrous trip in Templer’s car threatens their friendship. As the school year comes to a close, the young men are faced with the prospect of adulthood and, with it, finding their place in the world.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times LiterarySupplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the fictional landmarks of our time.’ Times Literary Supplement‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this second volume, Nick Jenkins is struggling to establish himself in London after graduating from Oxford. He finds his old friends are moving on – Stringham takes the leap into marriage, Templer heads into the world of business and Widmerpool, confident as-ever of his own importance, begins a career in law.Determined not to be left behind, Nick starts to make new acquaintances and throws himself into society life. Yet, in this new world of glamorous debutante balls and leisurely country visits, Nick faces his first encounter with the pleasures and pain of love.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘A unique joy to read.’ Sunday Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this third volume, determined to make a name for himself, Nick Jenkins starts working for a publisher, establishing connections across the London literary scene. But whilst Nick is ready to move forwards with his new life, the past is never far behind.A weekend away with his friend Templer sees a surprise reunion quickly blossom into an affair, while an Old Boys dinner at the Ritz in honour of their old housemaster, Le Bas, reunites Nick with his old schoolmates Stringham and Widmerpool. Set against the backdrop of 1930s London, The Acceptance World lays bare the complicated nature of young love.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘A rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life.’ John Banville‘Incalculably brilliant.’ Time‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this fourth volume, Nick Jenkins has settled comfortably into the world of art, culture and society as a London scriptwriter, only to be invited by a friend to spend the weekend in the country. There, he becomes acquainted with Isobel Tolland, the youngest daughter of a large aristocratic family, and immediately decides they are destined to marry.Meanwhile, rumours are circulating around Nick’s old friend Widmerpool’s engagement during a gathering at Lady Molly’s. As the roaring twenties give way to the austerity of the thirties, Nick and his friends are forced to grapple with the double-edged sword of love and heartbreak as life’s dance continues on.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘An incomparable treat.’ Michael Palin‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this fifth volume, Nick Jenkins finally seems to be settling down and enjoying the life he has made for himself in London. However, the same cannot be said of his friends, each of whom are dealing with their own dramas and heartaches. The composer, Hugh Moreland, is risking his marriage for a pointless affair while Nick’s old school friend, Stringham, has nearly destroyed himself with drink.With the rumblings of war getting closer and closer, the future is starting to look uncertain for these once bright young things.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘As magnificently comic as anything in the series.’ Sunday Times‘A literary gem.’ Claire Messud‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this sixth volume, with Britain once again on the brink of war, Nick Jenkins reflects back on his childhood growing up in the shadow of the World War I.Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, Nick sets his sights on becoming an officer in the British Army and asks his old school friend, Widmerpool, who is gaining prominence in the business world, for help. Yet, with reserves lists quickly filling up, it’s not long until the threat of war is the only thing on everyone’s mind.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘Astonishingly accurate, not just the comedies of incongruity but the gathering menace of the real war beyond.’ Financial Times‘A sheer delight.’ Observer‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this seventh volume, Britain once again finds itself plunged into global war. Called to do his duty, Nick Jenkins must leave his pregnant wife, Isobel, and his life in London to take up his position as a Second Lieutenant in the Welsh infantry. Grappling with endless regulations and the tedious routines of military life, it is not long before he finds himself in the middle of a dispute between his commanding officer, Captain Gwatkin, and Lieutenant Bithel.Finding himself stationed in Northern Ireland, military life is not what it had seemed, and Nick finds himself longing for the comforts of home. But when the battalion is transferred to an unknown location, Nick is reunited with a familiar face.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘Powell is very like a drug, the more compelling the more you read him.’ Sunday Times‘[Has] a unique place in English literature.’ Melvyn Bragg‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this eighth volume, as the Second World War rumbles on, Nick Jenkins finds himself posted to Divisional Headquarters as the assistant to his old friend, the rapidly rising Major Widmerpool. Having to work alongside the obnoxious Captain Biggs, Nick is pleased when his old school pal, Charles Stringham, becomes the latest recruit to the armed forces.However, the cruelties of war are not far behind. As the Blitz intensifies, tragedy and despair are in store for Nick and his friends.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘Comic in the most honoured sense ... as serious as it is funny.’ Spectator‘Elegant, funny and moving.’ Guardian‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this ninth volume, Nick Jenkins, now a Second World War captain, finds himself working in military liaison. When he receives the tragic news of the death of an old friend, Nick is confronted with the ever-present dichotomy between the way things are and the way things used to be.Despite Widmerpool news of finding himself yet again engaged, this time to the notorious Pamela Flitton, the war’s toll is mounting and Nick, weary of life in uniform like the rest of his compatriots, is looking ahead to peacetime.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘The ironies are darker, the comic lights as funny as ever.’ Financial Times‘The finest English comic novel of the period.’ Sunday Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this tenth volume, Nick Jenkins and his circle of friends are re-establishing their lives in the wake of the Second World War. With the London literary scene starting to find its feet again, things begin to look up for Nick as old acquaintance Quiggin offers him a position at the new literary magazine he is launching.Meanwhile, however, there already seems to be trouble in paradise for the newly married Widmerpool whose wife, Pamela Flitton, has caught the eye of writer X. Trapnel – a man who exudes in equal measure mystery, talent and an air of self-destruction.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘The elegance of the style draws you in like incense to reverie.’ Sunday Times‘Gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence.’ Louisa Young‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this eleventh volume, Nick Jenkins, persuaded by his old friend Mark Members, attends a literary conference in Venice. Meanwhile in London, his old school friend, Widmerpool, continues to climb the social ranks, this time to the status of Life Peer. However, his position in power is under threat.Widmerpool finds himself the subject of whispered accusations of espionage and his wife, Pamela, former lover of the dead writer X. Trapnel, also becomes the centre of attention as the mystery around the writer continues to draw ghoulish interest from readers and academics alike. Even surrounded by the beautiful vistas of Venice, Nick cannot escape his friends’ turbulent lives.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘A joyous experience. I remember wishing there’d been more than twelve volumes.’ Roddy Doyle‘A long, varied, intelligent and funny narrative that will be a joy to us all for years to come.’ Philip Larkin‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this final volume of Anthony Powell’s epic masterpiece ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’, the sixties are in full swing and Nick Jenkins and his wife Isobel are living out their later years in the countryside. Not content with a quiet retirement, Nick’s old school friend, Widmerpool, is on the rise yet again, this time being appointed chancellor of a new university.Yet, while Nick and his contemporaries are settling into a slower pace of life, the rise of sixties counterculture signals a new generation pushing its way forward. As The Dance draws to a close, a wedding brings together old faces one final time.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

The first novel Anthony Powell published following the completion of his epic A Dance to the Music of Time, O, How the Wheel Becomes It! fulfills perhaps every author’s fantasy as it skewers a conceited, lazy, and dishonest critic. A writer who avoids serving in World War II and veers in and out of marriage, G. F. H. Shadbold ultimately falls victim to the title’s spinning—and righteous—emblem of chance. Sophisticated and a bit cruel, Wheel’s tale of posthumous vengeance is, nonetheless, irresistible.Written at the peak of the late British master’s extraordinary literary career, this novel offers profound insight into the mind of a great artist whose unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony will delight devotees and new readers alike.

Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud-such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic. A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists.In What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.

Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud - such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequalled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists.In What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.

Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud - such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists.In What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.

Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human behavior.More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, Powell's early works reveal the stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of Time.In Afternoon Men, the earliest and perhaps most acid of Powell's novels, we meet the museum clerk William Atwater, a young man stymied in both his professional and romantic endeavors. Immersed in Atwater's coterie of acquaintances-a similarly unsatisfied cast of rootless, cocktail-swilling London sophisticates-we learn of the conflict between his humdrum work life and louche social scene, of his unrequited love, and, during a trip to the country, of the absurd contrivances of proper manners.A satire that verges on nihilism and a story touched with sexism and equal doses self-loathing and self-medication, AfternoonMen has a grim edge to it. But its dialogue sparks and its scenes grip, and for aficionados of Powell, this first installment in his literary canon will be a welcome window onto the mind of a great artist learning his craft.

Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human behavior. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, Powell’s early works reveal the stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of Time.Powell’s sophomore novel, Venusberg, follows journalist Lushington as he leaves behind his unrequited love in England and travels by boat to an unnamed Baltic state. Awash in a marvelously odd assortment of counts and ladies navigating a multicultural, elegant, and politically precarious social scene, Lushington becomes infatuated with his very own, very foreign Venus. An action-packed literary precursor to Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Venusberg is replete with assassins and Nazis, loose countesses and misunderstandings, fatal accidents and social comedy. But beyond its humor, this early installment in Powell’s literary canon will offer readers a welcome window onto the mind of a great artist learning his craft.

This is the second volume of an epic which encompasses a four-volume panorama of 20th-century London.

Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art. In the second volume they move to London in a whirl of marriage and adulteries, fashions and frivolities, personal triumphs and failures. These books "provide an unsurpassed picture, at once gay and melancholy, of social and artistic life in Britain between the wars" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.). The third volume follows Nick into army life and evokes London during the blitz. In the climactic final volume, England has won the war and must now count the losses. In this third volume of A Dance to the Music of Time, we again meet Widmerpool, doggedly rising in rank; Jenkins, shifted from one dismal army post to another; Stringham, heroically emerging from alcoholism; Templer, still on his eternal sexual quest. Here, too, we are introduced to Pamela Flitton, one of the most beautiful and dangerous women in modern fiction. Wickedly barbed in its wit, uncanny in its seismographic recording of human emotions and social currents, this saga stands as an unsurpassed rendering of England's finest yet most costly hour. Includes these novels: The Valley of Bones The Soldier's Art The Military Philosophers "Anthony Powell is the best living English novelist by far. His admirers are addicts, let us face it, held in thrall by a magician."-Chicago Tribune "A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu. . . . Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's."-Elizabeth Janeway, New York Times "One of the most important works of fiction since the Second World War. . . . The novel looked, as it began, something like a comedy of manners; then, for a while, like a tragedy of manners; now like a vastly entertaining, deeply melancholy, yet somehow courageous statement about human experience."-Naomi Bliven, New Yorker

Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art. In the second volume they move to London in a whirl of marriage and adulteries, fashions and frivolities, personal triumphs and failures. These books "provide an unsurpassed picture, at once gay and melancholy, of social and artistic life in Britain between the wars" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.). The third volume follows Nick into army life and evokes London during the blitz. In the climactic final volume, England has won the war and must now count the losses. In this climactic volume of A Dance to the Music of Time, Nick Jenkins describes a world of ambition, intrigue, and dissolution. England has won the war, but now the losses, physical and moral, must be counted. Pamela Widmerpool sets a snare for the young writer Trapnel, while her husband suffers private agony and public humiliation. Set against a background of politics, business, high society, and the counterculture in England and Europe, this magnificent work of art sounds an unforgettable requiem for an age. Includes these novels: Books Do Furnish a Room Temporary Kings Hearing Secret Harmonies "Anthony Powell is the best living English novelist by far. His admirers are addicts, let us face it, held in thrall by a magician."-Chicago Tribune "A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu. . . . Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's."-Elizabeth Janeway, New York Times "One of the most important works of fiction since the Second World War. . . . The novel looked, as it began, something like a comedy of manners; then, for a while, like a tragedy of manners; now like a vastly entertaining, deeply melancholy, yet somehow courageous statement about human experience."-Naomi Bliven, New Yorker

NOW IN ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘Wonderfully observed ... true, funny, stylistically dazzling.’ The Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in its 75th anniversary year, this first volume is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this first volume, Nick Jenkins, freshly introduced to the ebbs and flows of life at boarding school in the 1920s, spends his time in the company of his new friends: Peter Templer, Charles Stringham, and Kenneth Widmerpool.Though their days are filled with visits from relatives and boyish pranks, usually at the expense of their housemaster, Le Bas, a disastrous trip in Templer’s car threatens their friendship. As the school year comes to a close, the young men are faced with the prospect of adulthood and, with it, finding their place in the world.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times LiterarySupplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘A joyous experience. I remember wishing there’d been more than twelve volumes.’ Roddy Doyle‘A long, varied, intelligent and funny narrative that will be a joy to us all for years to come.’ Philip Larkin‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this final volume of Anthony Powell’s epic masterpiece ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’, the sixties are in full swing and Nick Jenkins and his wife Isobel are living out their later years in the countryside. Not content with a quiet retirement, Nick’s old school friend, Widmerpool, is on the rise yet again, this time being appointed chancellor of a new university.Yet, while Nick and his contemporaries are settling into a slower pace of life, the rise of sixties counterculture signals a new generation pushing its way forward. As The Dance draws to a close, a wedding brings together old faces one final time.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

**The abridged memoirs of Anthony Powell, with a new introduction from Louisa Young**'Powell can offer many of the rewards of comic creation we find in a Dickens or a Jane Austen' TLS Anthony Powell earned a reputation as a literary giant within the generation of Waugh, Orwell and Greene, best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time.These memoirs reveal Powell - the man and author - providing an insider's view of the British literary scene and social elite from the 1920s to the 1980s. In these pages, Powell observes the obscenity trial sparked by Lady Chatterley's Lover, and Shirley Temple's libel suit after Graham Greene reviewed Wee Willie Winkie with 'more than his usual verve'. Throughout, Powell paints vivid, witty and superbly written portraits of his contemporaries, other authors including Kingsley Amis, V.S. Naipaul, T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.Featuring an illuminating new introduction by Louisa Young, TO KEEP THE BALL ROLLING is the abridged version of Anthony Powell's four volumes of memoir, first published between 1976 and 1982.

_________________________The first three volumes of Anthony Powell's remarkable A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME sequence: A QUESTION OF UPBRINGING; A BUYER'S MARKET; THE ACCEPTANCE WORLD'One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat.' - Michael PalinAnthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations. These first three novels in the sequence follow Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles which stand between them and the 'Acceptance World'.

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.Volume 2 contains the second three novels in the sequence: At Lady Molly's; Casanova's Chinese Restaurant; The Kindly Ones

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.Volume 4 contains the last three novels in the sequence: Books do Furnish a Room; Temporary Kings; Hearing Secret Harmonies.

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.Volume 3 contains the seventh, eighth and ninth novel in the series: The Valley of Bones; The Soldier's Art; The Military Philosophers

NOW IN ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘Wonderfully observed ... true, funny, stylistically dazzling.’ The Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in its 75th anniversary year, this first volume is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this first volume, Nick Jenkins, freshly introduced to the ebbs and flows of life at boarding school in the 1920s, spends his time in the company of his new friends: Peter Templer, Charles Stringham, and Kenneth Widmerpool.Though their days are filled with visits from relatives and boyish pranks, usually at the expense of their housemaster, Le Bas, a disastrous trip in Templer’s car threatens their friendship. As the school year comes to a close, the young men are faced with the prospect of adulthood and, with it, finding their place in the world.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times LiterarySupplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the fictional landmarks of our time.’ Times Literary Supplement‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this second volume, Nick Jenkins is struggling to establish himself in London after graduating from Oxford. He finds his old friends are moving on – Stringham takes the leap into marriage, Templer heads into the world of business and Widmerpool, confident as-ever of his own importance, begins a career in law.Determined not to be left behind, Nick starts to make new acquaintances and throws himself into society life. Yet, in this new world of glamorous debutante balls and leisurely country visits, Nick faces his first encounter with the pleasures and pain of love.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘A unique joy to read.’ Sunday Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this third volume, determined to make a name for himself, Nick Jenkins starts working for a publisher, establishing connections across the London literary scene. But whilst Nick is ready to move forwards with his new life, the past is never far behind.A weekend away with his friend Templer sees a surprise reunion quickly blossom into an affair, while an Old Boys dinner at the Ritz in honour of their old housemaster, Le Bas, reunites Nick with his old schoolmates Stringham and Widmerpool. Set against the backdrop of 1930s London, The Acceptance World lays bare the complicated nature of young love.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘A rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life.’ John Banville‘Incalculably brilliant.’ Time‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this fourth volume, Nick Jenkins has settled comfortably into the world of art, culture and society as a London scriptwriter, only to be invited by a friend to spend the weekend in the country. There, he becomes acquainted with Isobel Tolland, the youngest daughter of a large aristocratic family, and immediately decides they are destined to marry.Meanwhile, rumours are circulating around Nick’s old friend Widmerpool’s engagement during a gathering at Lady Molly’s. As the roaring twenties give way to the austerity of the thirties, Nick and his friends are forced to grapple with the double-edged sword of love and heartbreak as life’s dance continues on.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘An incomparable treat.’ Michael Palin‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this fifth volume, Nick Jenkins finally seems to be settling down and enjoying the life he has made for himself in London. However, the same cannot be said of his friends, each of whom are dealing with their own dramas and heartaches. The composer, Hugh Moreland, is risking his marriage for a pointless affair while Nick’s old school friend, Stringham, has nearly destroyed himself with drink.With the rumblings of war getting closer and closer, the future is starting to look uncertain for these once bright young things.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘As magnificently comic as anything in the series.’ Sunday Times‘A literary gem.’ Claire Messud‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this sixth volume, with Britain once again on the brink of war, Nick Jenkins reflects back on his childhood growing up in the shadow of the World War I.Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, Nick sets his sights on becoming an officer in the British Army and asks his old school friend, Widmerpool, who is gaining prominence in the business world, for help. Yet, with reserves lists quickly filling up, it’s not long until the threat of war is the only thing on everyone’s mind.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘Astonishingly accurate, not just the comedies of incongruity but the gathering menace of the real war beyond.’ Financial Times‘A sheer delight.’ Observer‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this seventh volume, Britain once again finds itself plunged into global war. Called to do his duty, Nick Jenkins must leave his pregnant wife, Isobel, and his life in London to take up his position as a Second Lieutenant in the Welsh infantry. Grappling with endless regulations and the tedious routines of military life, it is not long before he finds himself in the middle of a dispute between his commanding officer, Captain Gwatkin, and Lieutenant Bithel.Finding himself stationed in Northern Ireland, military life is not what it had seemed, and Nick finds himself longing for the comforts of home. But when the battalion is transferred to an unknown location, Nick is reunited with a familiar face.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘Powell is very like a drug, the more compelling the more you read him.’ Sunday Times‘[Has] a unique place in English literature.’ Melvyn Bragg‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this eighth volume, as the Second World War rumbles on, Nick Jenkins finds himself posted to Divisional Headquarters as the assistant to his old friend, the rapidly rising Major Widmerpool. Having to work alongside the obnoxious Captain Biggs, Nick is pleased when his old school pal, Charles Stringham, becomes the latest recruit to the armed forces.However, the cruelties of war are not far behind. As the Blitz intensifies, tragedy and despair are in store for Nick and his friends.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘Comic in the most honoured sense ... as serious as it is funny.’ Spectator‘Elegant, funny and moving.’ Guardian‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this ninth volume, Nick Jenkins, now a Second World War captain, finds himself working in military liaison. When he receives the tragic news of the death of an old friend, Nick is confronted with the ever-present dichotomy between the way things are and the way things used to be.Despite Widmerpool news of finding himself yet again engaged, this time to the notorious Pamela Flitton, the war’s toll is mounting and Nick, weary of life in uniform like the rest of his compatriots, is looking ahead to peacetime.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘The ironies are darker, the comic lights as funny as ever.’ Financial Times‘The finest English comic novel of the period.’ Sunday Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this tenth volume, Nick Jenkins and his circle of friends are re-establishing their lives in the wake of the Second World War. With the London literary scene starting to find its feet again, things begin to look up for Nick as old acquaintance Quiggin offers him a position at the new literary magazine he is launching.Meanwhile, however, there already seems to be trouble in paradise for the newly married Widmerpool whose wife, Pamela Flitton, has caught the eye of writer X. Trapnel – a man who exudes in equal measure mystery, talent and an air of self-destruction.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘The elegance of the style draws you in like incense to reverie.’ Sunday Times‘Gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence.’ Louisa Young‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this eleventh volume, Nick Jenkins, persuaded by his old friend Mark Members, attends a literary conference in Venice. Meanwhile in London, his old school friend, Widmerpool, continues to climb the social ranks, this time to the status of Life Peer. However, his position in power is under threat.Widmerpool finds himself the subject of whispered accusations of espionage and his wife, Pamela, former lover of the dead writer X. Trapnel, also becomes the centre of attention as the mystery around the writer continues to draw ghoulish interest from readers and academics alike. Even surrounded by the beautiful vistas of Venice, Nick cannot escape his friends’ turbulent lives.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘A joyous experience. I remember wishing there’d been more than twelve volumes.’ Roddy Doyle‘A long, varied, intelligent and funny narrative that will be a joy to us all for years to come.’ Philip Larkin‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this final volume of Anthony Powell’s epic masterpiece ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’, the sixties are in full swing and Nick Jenkins and his wife Isobel are living out their later years in the countryside. Not content with a quiet retirement, Nick’s old school friend, Widmerpool, is on the rise yet again, this time being appointed chancellor of a new university.Yet, while Nick and his contemporaries are settling into a slower pace of life, the rise of sixties counterculture signals a new generation pushing its way forward. As The Dance draws to a close, a wedding brings together old faces one final time.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement

The first novel Anthony Powell published following the completion of his epic A Dance to the Music of Time, O, How the Wheel Becomes It! fulfills perhaps every author’s fantasy as it skewers a conceited, lazy, and dishonest critic. A writer who avoids serving in World War II and veers in and out of marriage, G. F. H. Shadbold ultimately falls victim to the title’s spinning—and righteous—emblem of chance. Sophisticated and a bit cruel, Wheel’s tale of posthumous vengeance is, nonetheless, irresistible.Written at the peak of the late British master’s extraordinary literary career, this novel offers profound insight into the mind of a great artist whose unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony will delight devotees and new readers alike.

Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud-such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic. A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists.In What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.

Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud - such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequalled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists.In What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.

Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud - such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists.In What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.

Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human behavior.More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, Powell's early works reveal the stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of Time.In Afternoon Men, the earliest and perhaps most acid of Powell's novels, we meet the museum clerk William Atwater, a young man stymied in both his professional and romantic endeavors. Immersed in Atwater's coterie of acquaintances-a similarly unsatisfied cast of rootless, cocktail-swilling London sophisticates-we learn of the conflict between his humdrum work life and louche social scene, of his unrequited love, and, during a trip to the country, of the absurd contrivances of proper manners.A satire that verges on nihilism and a story touched with sexism and equal doses self-loathing and self-medication, AfternoonMen has a grim edge to it. But its dialogue sparks and its scenes grip, and for aficionados of Powell, this first installment in his literary canon will be a welcome window onto the mind of a great artist learning his craft.

Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human behavior. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, Powell’s early works reveal the stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of Time.Powell’s sophomore novel, Venusberg, follows journalist Lushington as he leaves behind his unrequited love in England and travels by boat to an unnamed Baltic state. Awash in a marvelously odd assortment of counts and ladies navigating a multicultural, elegant, and politically precarious social scene, Lushington becomes infatuated with his very own, very foreign Venus. An action-packed literary precursor to Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Venusberg is replete with assassins and Nazis, loose countesses and misunderstandings, fatal accidents and social comedy. But beyond its humor, this early installment in Powell’s literary canon will offer readers a welcome window onto the mind of a great artist learning his craft.

This is the second volume of an epic which encompasses a four-volume panorama of 20th-century London.

Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art. In the second volume they move to London in a whirl of marriage and adulteries, fashions and frivolities, personal triumphs and failures. These books "provide an unsurpassed picture, at once gay and melancholy, of social and artistic life in Britain between the wars" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.). The third volume follows Nick into army life and evokes London during the blitz. In the climactic final volume, England has won the war and must now count the losses. In this third volume of A Dance to the Music of Time, we again meet Widmerpool, doggedly rising in rank; Jenkins, shifted from one dismal army post to another; Stringham, heroically emerging from alcoholism; Templer, still on his eternal sexual quest. Here, too, we are introduced to Pamela Flitton, one of the most beautiful and dangerous women in modern fiction. Wickedly barbed in its wit, uncanny in its seismographic recording of human emotions and social currents, this saga stands as an unsurpassed rendering of England's finest yet most costly hour. Includes these novels: The Valley of Bones The Soldier's Art The Military Philosophers "Anthony Powell is the best living English novelist by far. His admirers are addicts, let us face it, held in thrall by a magician."-Chicago Tribune "A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu. . . . Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's."-Elizabeth Janeway, New York Times "One of the most important works of fiction since the Second World War. . . . The novel looked, as it began, something like a comedy of manners; then, for a while, like a tragedy of manners; now like a vastly entertaining, deeply melancholy, yet somehow courageous statement about human experience."-Naomi Bliven, New Yorker

Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art. In the second volume they move to London in a whirl of marriage and adulteries, fashions and frivolities, personal triumphs and failures. These books "provide an unsurpassed picture, at once gay and melancholy, of social and artistic life in Britain between the wars" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.). The third volume follows Nick into army life and evokes London during the blitz. In the climactic final volume, England has won the war and must now count the losses. In this climactic volume of A Dance to the Music of Time, Nick Jenkins describes a world of ambition, intrigue, and dissolution. England has won the war, but now the losses, physical and moral, must be counted. Pamela Widmerpool sets a snare for the young writer Trapnel, while her husband suffers private agony and public humiliation. Set against a background of politics, business, high society, and the counterculture in England and Europe, this magnificent work of art sounds an unforgettable requiem for an age. Includes these novels: Books Do Furnish a Room Temporary Kings Hearing Secret Harmonies "Anthony Powell is the best living English novelist by far. His admirers are addicts, let us face it, held in thrall by a magician."-Chicago Tribune "A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu. . . . Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's."-Elizabeth Janeway, New York Times "One of the most important works of fiction since the Second World War. . . . The novel looked, as it began, something like a comedy of manners; then, for a while, like a tragedy of manners; now like a vastly entertaining, deeply melancholy, yet somehow courageous statement about human experience."-Naomi Bliven, New Yorker

NOW IN ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘Wonderfully observed ... true, funny, stylistically dazzling.’ The Times‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in its 75th anniversary year, this first volume is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this first volume, Nick Jenkins, freshly introduced to the ebbs and flows of life at boarding school in the 1920s, spends his time in the company of his new friends: Peter Templer, Charles Stringham, and Kenneth Widmerpool.Though their days are filled with visits from relatives and boyish pranks, usually at the expense of their housemaster, Le Bas, a disastrous trip in Templer’s car threatens their friendship. As the school year comes to a close, the young men are faced with the prospect of adulthood and, with it, finding their place in the world.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times LiterarySupplement

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian‘A joyous experience. I remember wishing there’d been more than twelve volumes.’ Roddy Doyle‘A long, varied, intelligent and funny narrative that will be a joy to us all for years to come.’ Philip Larkin‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this final volume of Anthony Powell’s epic masterpiece ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’, the sixties are in full swing and Nick Jenkins and his wife Isobel are living out their later years in the countryside. Not content with a quiet retirement, Nick’s old school friend, Widmerpool, is on the rise yet again, this time being appointed chancellor of a new university.Yet, while Nick and his contemporaries are settling into a slower pace of life, the rise of sixties counterculture signals a new generation pushing its way forward. As The Dance draws to a close, a wedding brings together old faces one final time.Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time’‘A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement