This book tells the story of modern drama through its seminal, groundbreaking plays and performances, and the artistic diversity that these represent. Exploring the new note of artistic hostility between dramatists and their audience, Shepherd-Barr draws on a range of theories and performances to reveal what makes modern drama "modern".

Drawing on research on the history of Ireland since 1800, this book challenges some of the assumptions which underpin this research. It explores the 'Irish Question' and argues that there were in fact many Irish Questions articulated and assessed according to the particular social, political, and economic conditions in which they developed.

This Very Short Introduction considers the history of Italy from the Risorgimento (the movement leading to Italian Unification in 1861) to the present. It also discusses Italy's political system and style of government; economic modernisation; emigration, internal migration and immigration; and the modern Italian culture and lifestyle.

Japan is an icon of the modern world, and yet it remains an enigma to many, who see it as a confusing montage of the alien and the familiar, the ancient and modern. The aim of this Very Short Introduction is to explode the myths and explore the reality of modern Japan - by taking a concise look at its history, economy, politics, and culture.

Covering the major areas of thought in contemporary Jewish Studies, including considerations of religious differences, sociological, philosophical, and gender issues, geographical diversity, inter-faith relations, and the impact of the Shoah and the state of Israel, this volume is multi-authored guide to contemporary Jewish life and thought.

Presenting a survey of literature in England during the first half of the twentieth century, this work places modernist with non-modernist writings. It covers psychological novels, war poems, detective stories, satires, children's books, and other literary forms evolving in response to the new anxieties and exhilarations of twentieth-century life.

In this accessible and authoritative Very Short Introduction, Richard English considers what modern warfare is and what it achieves. Addressing our assumptions about war in the modern period, and drawing upon direct accounts of warfare, he considers its impact on society, culture, economics, as well its future.

Whether we recognise it or not, virtually every aspect of our life today has been influenced in part by the aesthetic legacy of Modernism. In this Very Short Introduction Christopher Butler examines how and why Modernism began, explaining what it is and showing how it has gradually informed all aspects of 20th and 21st century life.