This selection of 20th century literature begins in the period preceding World War I with short stories from such authors as H.G.Wells, M.R.James and Saki. It continues with work written up until the mid-1970s, by a range of authors including Dylan Thomas, Graham Greene and Kingsley Amis.

Part 1: M.R.James; Saki; John Galsworthy; Leonard Merrick; Geoffrey Moss; Richard Hughes; Dorothy L.Sayers; Naomi Mitchison; Frank O'Connor; Stella Benson; W.Somerset Maugham; Hugh Walpole; H.G.Wells; Dylan Thomas; Walter de la Mare; Elizabeth Bowen; Evelyn Waugh; Angus Wilson; Joyce Cary; William Sansom; L.P.Hartley; Graham Greene; V.S.Pritchett. Part 2: Nadine Gordimer; Viola Meynell; Rhys Davies; Dal Stivens; H.E.Bates; Morley Callaghan; Norah Lofts; Bill Naughton; Peter Ustinov; George Lamming; John Wain; L.E.Jones; Mary Lavin; David Owoyele; R.Prawer Jhabvala; Maurice Shadbolt; May C.Jenkins; John Updike; Frank Sargeson; Elizabeth Taylor; Gordon Meyer; Olivia Manning; William Trevor; Jean Rhys; R.K.Narayan; Frank Tuohy; Chinua Achebe; Kingsley Amis; Dan Jacobson; Benedict Kiely; Bernard Malamud; Susan Hill; Gearge Mackay Brown; Patrick White; Elspeth Davie.