Edwardian Shaw

the long version

In 1901, when Edward VII succeeded to the British throne, Bernard Shaw had not established himself with any firmness as either a moral revolutionary or a playwright. The next few years would be crucial. In this study of Shaw's public career from 1901 to 1910 Leon Hugo shows how Shaw confronted a highly conservative world and gradually overcame its opposition to become the dominant radical voice of the age. Aspects of Shaw's career are highlighted; his self-advertisement campaigns, his crusade against vaccination, his Fabian causes, his onslaughts on stage censorship and, above all, his progress as a playwright, particularly during the legendary Vedrenne-Barker seasons at the Royal Court Theatre - all conducted in the teeth of unremitting critical antagonism.