J. B. Priestley , who demonstrated mastery of several literary genres, was an English man of letters who preferred to be thought of as a professional writer practicing a time-honored craft. Assessing himself as a "fertile but careless" writer, Priestley wrote plays, essays, biographies, literary criticism (from a writer's point of view; Priestley had scant regard for academic criticism), and historical and social commentaries. He refused to be knighted for his achievements, declaring in the spirit of his working-class forebears that he would leave the world as he entered it, untitled. His deep commitment to human integrity shaped his writings and his public positions on social and political issues. Although he was criticized for writing in an Edwardian style, his interest in time theories, his awareness of the dehumanizing effects of technology, and his focus on the loneliness at the core of contemporary existence show that he was in...