Literature in the Modern World is an essential resource for any teacher or degree level student engaging with critical approaches to the study of English Literature in the twentieth century and beyond. Since its initial publication in 1990, this enduring textbook has been subject to a raft of subsequent reprints, testament to its popularity and authority in the field of literary criticism.

By no means comprehensive, Walder’s book acts as a great primer for anyone embarking on a career in literary academia, or simply with a burning desire for a greater understanding of the books they have read and loved.

The reader is divided into two parts.

Part One: General Approaches explores what makes literature canonical (Questioning the 'Canon'), with insightful essays from esteemed literary thinkers including Terry Eagleton and Edward Said, and examines the crucial issue of the importance of interpretation. The final section of Part One explores the influence of the politics of the reader and the writer with essays from Virginia Woolf and Sartre in Literature and Commitment.

After the broader sweep of the book's first section, Part Two: Themes and Issues looks at the subjects of Form and Genre, Englishness, Modernism and many more with a greater, more acute depth of focus, featuring eye-opening essays from Umberto Eco, Toni Morrison, George Orwell, Toni Morrison and a plethora of other renowned names.

I found this (in its own way canonical) textbook continually helpful when completing my English Literature degree- it is by now a note-strewn, scuffed-up, dog-eared ruin -and I'd commend it as vital reading for anyone looking for a degree qualification in this exacting area of study. It is one of the few non-fiction books, bought during my university years, that I have had cause to read, and enjoy, since I was so roughly ejected from that pedagogical paradise.

An ultimately rewarding read, Literature in the Modern World: Critical Essays and Documents deals with complex subjects, and can be heavy going at times as you struggle to keep up with the dense writings of professional thinkers. This said, Walder has definitely imparted a gradient of complexity on the collection’s structure. You are eased in to the trickier stuff with some more prosaic and more easily comprehensible essays, so that by the time you reach the tough stuff it’s not quite so impenetrably daunting.

If you're at all interested in the evolution of modern literature, and our changing attitudes to English writing, then Walder's book is a fascinating read, populous with rich, interesting and astoundingly clever voices, a world away from the stale dryness of most textbooks.

The book is priced at around £20 new, but you can pick it up second hand on the likes of eBay and Amazon Marketplace for next to nothing.

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