Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) is one of the most revered of modern English novelists.

His 1908 novel, ‘A Room with a View’, is his most optimistic work, while ‘Howard’s End’ (1910) and ‘A Passage to India’ (1924) brought him his greatest success, and are widely considered his greatest achievements.

But what was the nature of Foster's genius, and why are his books still so popular?

The value of his fiction lies to a great extent in his representative portraits of people.

On the title page of ‘Howards End’ (1910), Forster placed a phrase representing the philosophy of one of his characters, which is essentially his own philosophy: “Only connect.”

Forster’s main works revolve around the failure of people to communicate with one another satisfactorily, their failure to smash down the walls of prejudice that have risen between them and to establish among themselves the relationships that could be possible.

Given a wider application, Harry T Moore sees this as the history of humanity in our time.

Forster, beginning his work early in this century of wars, saw from the first the schisms between people and between the separate worlds they live in.

Harry T Moore examines Forster’s five novels, and his collections of short stories to get to the heart of his writing, and to shed light on the life of this remarkable man.

Harry T Moore (1908-1981) is best remembered for his studies of the life and works of D.H. Lawrence. He also wrote and edited books on the writings of John Steinbeck, E.M. Forster, Henry James, as well as several collections of essays on twentieth-century literature. Moore’s biography of Lawrence, ‘The Priest of Love’ became the basis for a film starring Ian McKellen and Janet Suzman in 1981. Moore became a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, as well as the President of the College English Association. He also won the Guggenheim Fellowships in 1958 and 1960.

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