This book is about the radical transformation of British literary culture during the period 1880 to 1914 as seen through the early publishing careers of Joseph Conrad, Arnold Bennett and Arthur Conan Doyle. Peter D. McDonald examines the cultural politics of the period by considering the social structure of the literary world in which these writers worked. By tracing the complex network of relationships among writers, publishers, reviewers and readers, McDonald demonstrates the importance of social history and publishing to questions of critical interpretation.