The years from 1919 to the later 1940s are a period of enormous artistic change in Britain. The artists returning from the trenches, such as Nevinson, Nash and Wyndham Lewis, had to re-engage with the peacetime world. The 1920s and 1930s saw the arrival of modernism from Europe, both as ideas and in reality as a wave of leading figures came to Britain to escape the rise of fascism and persecution. WWII hemmed in so many, creating an embattled mindset which looked back to earlier, and in many cases, more mystical times.

Every element of this short period influenced the art made then - politics, thought, social pressures, industry and science all shaped the art of the time.

Here are a few volumes that we think help to give a sense of these turbulent but fascinating years