Before the Arts Council Campaigns for State Funding of the Arts in Britain 1934-44

"Before the Arts Council rediscovers three forgotten but influential campaigns for state support of the arts in Britain before and during World War II. Webber's impressive historical excavation challenges existing scholarship which argues that the arts subsidy was the result of the war, and instead re-situates the campaign's origins in the pre-war years. Webber does so by drawing on correspondence from influential figures including Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Maynard Keynes and J.B Priestley, along with extensive use of government papers"--