Books · 1921
Modernist Disillusionment and Bestselling Tales of 1921
The literary world of 1921 reflected a globe grappling with the scars of the Great War through sharp satire, unsparing realism, and theatrical innovation. Readers gravitated toward bold historical adventures alongside introspective portraits of human isolation and societal pretense.
- Rafael Sabatini · Fiction · Classic
Scaramouche
Set during the French Revolution, this thrilling swashbuckling tale follows a cynical lawyer turned fugitive actor whose pursuit of vengeance drives him into the heart of historical upheaval.
- A.S.M. Hutchinson · Novel · Bestseller
If Winter Comes
Following an idealistic English publisher undone by societal hypocrisy during World War I, this emotional novel became an astounding international bestseller and cultural touchstone.
- John Dos Passos · Novel · Landmark Work
Three Soldiers
Unsparing in its realism, this groundbreaking modernist war novel exposes the demoralizing effects of military bureaucracy on three American doughboys fighting in World War I.
- Aldous Huxley · Satire · Classic
Crome Yellow
Aldous Huxley made a brilliant literary debut with this biting house-party satire, poking fun at the intellectual pretensions and romantic absurdities of post-war British high society.
- Hendrik van Loon · History · Landmark
The Story of Mankind
Written and illustrated by Hendrik Willem van Loon, this engaging universal history revolutionized non-fiction for young readers and earned the inaugural Newbery Medal.
- Luigi Pirandello · Drama · Classic
Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore
Luigi Pirandello shattered traditional theater with this meta-theatrical masterpiece in which six unfinished dramatic characters disrupt a rehearsal to demand their story be told.
- W. Somerset Maugham · Fiction · Classic
The Trembling of a Leaf
Exploring colonial disillusionment and human weakness in the Pacific islands, this acclaimed collection features Maugham's famed short story "Rain."
- Sherwood Anderson · Fiction · Classic
The Triumph of the Egg
Through a collection of melancholic short stories and poems, Sherwood Anderson captures the quiet desperation and emotional isolation lurking beneath small-town American life.
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