This radical reexamination of one of the crucial periods of modern British and Irish art demolishes the idea that control of the art world passed after the War from rich individuals to faceless state institutions. This highly original book puts history back into the history of art. It approaches the British and Irish art worlds from the historical viewpoint, avoiding theories unsupported by facts. Individual artists discussed include Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Henry Moore, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Gerard Dillon, Robert Colquhoun, Paul Nash and many more.