Sidelights On New London And Newer York

CONTENTSA FIRST WORD 5PART I NEW LONDON 8I. ON BRIGHT OLD THINGS 8II. ON CALLING NAMES 14III. ON KEEPING YOUR HAIR ON 20IV. THE COWARDICE OF COCKTAILS 28V. GATES AND GATE-CRASHERS 37VI. THE UNPSYCHOLOGICAL AGE 46VII. THE TRUE VICTORIAN HYPOCRISY 53VIII. MARRIAGE AND THE MODERN MIND 60PART II NEWER YORK 67I. THE AMERICAN IDEAL 67II. A PLEA FOR PROHIBITION 74III. WHICH IS THE GOVERNMENT? 77IV A MONSTER: THE POLITICAL DRY 81V. BERNARD SHAW AND AMERICA 89VI. THE CASE AGAINST MAIN STREET 94VII. THE CASE FOR MAIN STREET 102VIII. THEY ARE ALL PURITANS 113IX. SKYSCRAPERS 121X. AND WHAT ABOUT THE QUAKERS? 125XI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN LONDON 130XII. UNKNOWN AMERICA 135XIII. WHAT OF THE REPUBLIC? 140XIV. RETURN TO THE VISION 150PART III OTHER ESSAYS 159I. THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE IN LITERATURE 159II. THE MIDDLEMAN IN POETRY 172III. SHAKESPEARE AND SHAW 181IV. BERNARD SHAW AND BREAKAGES 186V. THE POPULARITY OF DICKENS 191VI. MAGIC AND FANTASY IN FICTION 195

A FIRST WORD 5PART I NEW LONDON 9I. ON BRIGHT OLD THINGS 9II. ON CALLING NAMES 19III. ON KEEPING YOUR HAIR ON 29IV. THE COWARDICE OF COCKTAILS 41V. GATES AND GATE-CRASHERS 55VI. THE UNPSYCHOLOGICAL AGE 69VII. THE TRUE VICTORIAN HYPOCRISY 80VIII. MARRIAGE AND THE MODERN MIND 91PART II NEWER YORK 102I. THE AMERICAN IDEAL 102II. A PLEA FOR PROHIBITION 112III. WHICH IS THE GOVERNMENT? 117IV A MONSTER: THE POLITICAL DRY 124V. BERNARD SHAW AND AMERICA 137VI. THE CASE AGAINST MAIN STREET 145VII. THE CASE FOR MAIN STREET 158VIII. THEY ARE ALL PURITANS 176IX. SKYSCRAPERS 188X. AND WHAT ABOUT THE QUAKERS? 194XI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN LONDON 201XII. UNKNOWN AMERICA 216XIII. WHAT OF THE REPUBLIC? 216XIV. RETURN TO THE VISION 232PART III OTHER ESSAYS 246I. THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE IN LITERATURE 246II. THE MIDDLEMAN IN POETRY 267III. SHAKESPEARE AND SHAW 281IV. BERNARD SHAW AND BREAKAGES 288V. THE POPULARITY OF DICKENS 296VI. MAGIC AND FANTASY IN FICTION 303

Beginning with Alexis de Tocqueville and Frances Trollope, visitors to America have written some of the most penetrating and, occasionally, scathing commentaries on U.S. politics and culture. Observing America focuses on four of the most insightful British commentators on America between 1890 and 1950. The colorful journalist W. T. Stead championed Anglo-American unity while plunging into reform efforts in Chicago. The versatile writer H. G. Wells fiercely criticized capitalist America but found reason for hope in the administrations of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. G. K. Chesterton, one of England’s great men of letters, urged Americans to preserve the vestiges of Jeffersonian democracy that he still discerned in the small towns of the heartland. And the influential political theorist and activist Harold Laski assailed the business ethos that he believed dominated the nation, especially after Franklin Roosevelt’s death. Robert Frankel examines the New World experiences of these commentators and the books they wrote about America. He also probes similar writings by other prominent observers from the British Isles, including Beatrice Webb, Rudyard Kipling, and George Bernard Shaw. The result is a book that offers keen insights into America’s national identity in a time of vast political and cultural change.

This 1939 book avoids biographical exposition in favour of an analysis of G. K. Chesterton's philosophical standpoint and literary achievements.