Absent Minds
Intellectuals in Britain

Presenting an account of 'the question of intellectuals' in twentieth-century Britain, this book aims to challenge the myth that there are no 'real' intellectuals in Britain. It offers an analysis of 'the intellectual' as a concept, as well as detailed discussions of influential figures, such as T S Eliot, George Orwell, and Edward Said.

Elegantly written and rigorously argued, Absent Minds is a major, long-awaited work by a leading intellectual historian and cultural commentator, ranging across the conventional divides between academic disciplines and combining insightful portraits of individuals with sharp-edged cultural analysis.

Introduction: The Question of Intellectuals
PART ONE: THE TERMS OF THE QUESTION
1. The History of a Word
2. A Matter of Definition
PART TWO: FONDER HEARTS
3. Anglo-Saxon Attitudes
4. Of Light and Leading
5. Highbrows and Other Aliens
6. The Long 1950s I: Happy Families
7. The Long 1950s II: Brave Causes
8. From New Left to Old Chestnut
PART THREE: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES
9. In their Natonal Habitat
10. Greener Grass: Letters from America
11. The Peculiarities of the French
12. The Translation of the Clerks
PART FOUR: SOME VERSIONS OF DENIAL
13. Clerisy or Undesirables: T. S. Eliot
14. Professional Cackling: R. G. Collingwood
15. Other People: George Orwell
16. Nothing to Say: A. J. P. Taylor
17. No True Answers: A. J. Ayer
PART FIVE: REPEAT PERFORMANCES
18. Outsider Studies: The Glamour of Dissent
19. Media Studies: A Discourse of General Ideas
20. Long Views I: Specialization and its Discontents
21. Long Views II: From Authority to Celebrity?
Epilogue: No Elsewhere