Hugh and Evelyn may have discovered their shared interest in literature soon after they became acquainted. The coincidence of both reading Eyeless in Gaza fuelled discussion in their letters.

Eyeless in Gaza is also discussed in Hugh’s next letter. Mann, Hudson and Lawrence appear later. Poetry crops up too. There is no further mention of Buchan or Walpole.

Technics and Civilisation by Lewis Mumford

The American philosopher and historian Lewis Mumford had published his book in 1934. It is indeed a scholarly tome, tracing the history of technology from 1000 AD. Mumford considers that the clock is man’s first and most influential piece of technology. The large machinery of the Industrial Revolution had the effect of a reduction in individualism along with a decline in health and standards of living.

Mumford describes the latest phase.  The advent of electricity, having the power to reverse a machine-dominated society, frees people to become social and cultural beings once more.