Introduction

Abstract The Introduction lays out the rationale for the book, summarizing the importance of classical receptions in Aldington’s work and his importance for the development of modernism. It notes some reasons why Aldington has too often been discounted in literary histories of the 1910s and 1920s. In particular, it discusses the hostility directed at him over his biography of T. E. Lawrence, which (accurately) debunked many aspects of the Lawrence legend; a concerted effort by Lawrence’s supporters led to booksellers removing Aldington’s books from their shelves and to publishers taking his books out of print. The Introduction also offers a test case for the importance of Classics in Aldington’s work by discussing his poem ‘Lesbia’ and showing how critics who do not recognize the classical (and specifically Catullan) resonances of that poem have gone astray in their readings of it.