Summary

The Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth Century Quotations brings together quotations crucial to a picture of the twentieth century, offering the reader an overview of the social, political, cultural, and scientific concerns of succeeding decades. It concentrates on writers who were alive in or after 1914, taking the outbreak of the First World War as the cultural watershed of the century. Quotations come from the written word, in plays poetry, novels, and speeches, and more latterly from soundbites, online sources, films, television, and advertisements. Coverage includes N. America and Europe, as well as the UK and Ireland. Quotations are organized by author, and include a brief description of each author, with context and source notes provided as necessary. There are also twelve thematic categories within the alphabetical sequence for quotations which are either anonymous or are not primarily recognized by their author: advertising slogans, catch-phrases, epitaphs, film lines, film titles, last words, misquotations, newspaper headlines and leaders, official advice, political slogans, sayings and slogans, and telegrams. A browsable thematic index allows a selection of quotations on a particular subject to be traced, with topics ranging from fashion, food and drink, and art to politics, science and technology, and sport. The most significant words from each quotation appear in the keyword index, allowing individual quotations to be traced.