A Dance to the Music of Time

Anthony Powell's landmark work A Dance to the Music of Time is an epic series of four novels depicting London over the course of the twentieth century. The series was quickly acclaimed as one of the best English novels in decades with critics calling it "brilliantly comic" (Time) and "a brilliant sketch of the times" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. ). The first book opens in 1920s London and follows Nick Jenkins, a young man from a middle-class family, and his friends through early adulthood. Book two moves on to the second decade of their lives as they move to London and confront sex, society, business, and art. In book three, the men join the army during World War II and face hardship during the Blitz in 1940s London. Book four concludes with England having won the war and now facing an uncertain future.