ABSTRACT
John Galsworthy (1867–1933) was known during his lifetime for his plays, many of which were critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. He secured a considerable reputation through using the theatre to campaign on issues of social reform. The series of books drawn together under the broad title The Forsyte Chronicles, and an impressive body of other prose work and poetry, made him an immensely popular writer, evidenced in the almost industrial scale of publication in various editions, series of ‘complete works’, and high-quality, often leather-bound volumes. Galsworthy was thus a difficult figure to ignore in the first three decades of the twentieth century. The success of his writing made him a public figure whose opinions were sought and respected, even by those who took a contrary view. In modern parlance, he was a ‘celebrity’, but one with an authority secured by his hard work and his indefatigable commitment to a range of causes. Unlike many modern celebrities, his was a serious voice that commanded attention over a long period and one that was widely missed when he died in 1933.
