New Makers of Modern Culture

Justin Wintle published the biographical references "Makers of Modern Culture" and "Makers of Nineteenth-Century Culture" with Routledge at the beginning of the 1980s. The set was extremely successful and continues to be used to this day, due to the very high quality of the writing, the distinguished contributors, and the cultural sensitivity shown in the selection of those individuals included. "New Makers of Modern Culture" is the successor to these classic reference works, taking into full account the rise and fall of reputation and influence over the last 25 years and the epochal changes that have occurred: the collapse of Marxism as a valid discourse and the demise of the Soviet Union, the rise and fall of postmodernism, the eruption of Islamic fundamentalism, the triumph of the Internet. With its global reach, "New Makers of Modern" "Culture" is not just a reference record, but a multi-voiced witness of the contemporary thinking world.
Containing over eight hundred essay-style entries, and covering the period from 1850 to the present, "Makers" covers artists, writers, dramatists, architects, philosophers, anthropologists, scientists, sociologists, major political figures, composers and many others culturally significant individuals and is thoroughly international in its purview. Next to Karl Marx is Bob Marley, next to John Ruskin is Salmon Rushdie, alongside Darwin is Luigi Dallapiccola, Deng Xiaoping and Derrida rub shoulders, and Julia Kristeva and Kropotkin. Once again, Wintle has enlisted the services of many distinguished writers and leading academics, such as Sam Beer, Bernard Crick, Edward Seidensticker and Paul Preston. In a few cases, for example Michael Holroyd andPhilip Larkin, contributors are themselves the subject of entries (Philip Larkin's entry on Duke Ellington has been retained from the original work).
"New Makers of Modern Culture" will be widely acquired by both higher education and public libraries. Bibliographies are attached to entries and there is thorough cross- referencing. There is an index of names and key terms.