The definitive account of that segment of English literary society which emerged between the World Wars, "The Brideshead Generation," as so labelled here, since all were friends of Evelyn Waugh and whose work had certain ideas and beliefs in common. The central figure in Carpenter's narrative, chiefly biography, is, of course, Waugh - in his person and writings, increasingly as the years passed, he displayed the characteristics and conflicts of the group more intensely and dramatically, and more entertainingly than any other member.