A Question of Upbringing

The opening novel in Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence, A Dance to the Music of Time

‘He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.’ Guardian

‘As magnificently comic as anything in the series.’ Sunday Times

‘A literary gem.’ Claire Messud

‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume’s 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.

In this sixth volume, with Britain once again on the brink of war, Nick Jenkins reflects back on his childhood growing up in the shadow of the World War I.

Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, Nick sets his sights on becoming an officer in the British Army and asks his old school friend, Widmerpool, who is gaining prominence in the business world, for help. Yet, with reserves lists quickly filling up, it’s not long until the threat of war is the only thing on everyone’s mind.

Praise for ''A Dance to the Music of Time’
‘A world as rich as Joyce''s on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse’s on the other.’ Guardian
‘One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.’ William Boyd
‘One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.’ Michael Palin
‘An epic, elegant masterpiece.’ Lauren Groff
‘A joyous experience.’ Roddy Doyle
‘An intricately wrought work of art.’ John Banville
‘The finest long comic novel that England has produced.’ Anthony Burgess
‘Mr Powell’s imagination is inexhaustible.’ Evelyn Waugh
‘One of English fiction’s few twentieth-century masterpieces.’ London Review of Books
‘There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.’ Times Literary Supplement