At the end of the Second World War Piers and his younger brother Tom are growing up at Tothill House, the family home with its magnificent baroque hall by Vanbrugh. Tom is the pluckier of the two, because pluck means overcoming one's fears. Piers has no such fears to overcome; he is ambitious. As the post-war years witness a division in their aspirations and their destinies, the two brothers strive to achieve their own means of setting the world on fire.
With rich characterization, virtuoso scenes of comedy, and sparkling dialogue, Setting the World On Fire provides a brilliant anatomy of post-war English society from 1948 to 1969.
'It is superb entertainment and social criticism but it is also a poem about the fire in human beings ... A moving and disturbing book and a very superior piece of art.' Anthony Burgess, Observer.
- ISBN10 0140159657
- ISBN13 9780140159653
- Publish Date 25 June 1992 (first published 7 July 1980)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 11 June 1998
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 304
- Language English