1930s Books: Top Writers, Novels And Reading Trends

Penguin makes books cheap, and politics gets into everything.

Below: books published in the 1930s, the writers who defined it, what was changing in publishing, and how people actually got hold of a book.

Every title and date is real. Useful for a reading list, a quiz round or a reminiscence session.

Books published in the 1930s

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932).
• The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell (1937) and Homage to Catalonia (1938).
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (1934).
• Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932).
• Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (1938).
• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (1937).
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936).
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939).

Writers who defined the decade

• George Orwell, reporting as much as writing novels.
• Graham Greene, splitting his output between novels and 'entertainments'.
• W. H. Auden and the poets of the political thirties.
• Evelyn Waugh, satirising the class he came from.
• Daphne du Maurier, with Jamaica Inn (1936) and Rebecca (1938).
• Dorothy L. Sayers at her best - Gaudy Night (1935).

Publishing and writing trends

• Penguin Books launches in 1935: paperbacks at sixpence, the price of ten cigarettes.
• Documentary writing and reportage become respectable literary forms.
• The Left Book Club (1936) sends political reading out by subscription.
• Crime fiction becomes the biggest-selling category in Britain.
• Writers flee Europe, and exile literature begins.

How people read

• Sixpenny Penguins sold in Woolworths, not just bookshops.
• Tuppenny libraries in corner shops lent popular fiction by the week.
• Newspapers serialised novels, and everyone read the same instalment.
• Children's annuals at Christmas, kept and re-read all year.

Years covered in the 1930s

• 1930 - The R101 disaster, rising unemployment and Amy Johnson flying to Australia. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1930
• 1931 - The National Government, the gold standard abandoned and the means test. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1931
• 1932 - Broadcasting House opened, the Empire Service began and hunger marches reached London. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1932
• 1933 - Bodyline, the first Loch Ness photograph and the opening of the Tube map. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1933
• 1934 - Driving tests announced, Belisha beacons and the Queen Mary being built. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1934
• 1935 - The Silver Jubilee, the first driving tests and the 30mph limit. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1935
• 1936 - Three kings in one year, the Jarrow March, Butlin's and the first television service. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1936
• 1937 - The coronation of George VI, the Hindenburg and the first Billy Butlin summer. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1937
• 1938 - Munich, gas masks and the Holidays with Pay Act. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1938
• 1939 - Evacuation, the blackout, the declaration of war and television going off air. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1939
• That is every 1930s year we have written up so far: 1930 to 1939.

How to use this

• Reading list: pick one novel and one non-fiction title from the decade someone was born in.
• Quiz round: read a title and ask for the decade, or read a writer and ask for one book.
• Reminiscence: ask what they were made to read at school, and what they read in secret.
• Anyone born in 1930 turns 50 in 1980, 60 in 1990 and 70 in 2000.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Publication year and the year someone read it are rarely the same - paperbacks arrived a year or two later.
• For a birthday, a first edition is expensive but a decent second-hand copy from their birth year is not.
• Libraries can order almost anything on this list for free.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1930
• Look back to 1931
• Look back to 1932
• Look back to 1933
• Look back to 1934
• Look back to 1935
• Look back to 1936
• Look back to 1937
• Look back to 1938
• Look back to 1939
• 1930s books, films and TV
• 1930s food and recipes
• 1930s films and directors
• 1930s calendar: year by year
• 1930s trivia: fun facts
• The 1930s: the whole decade
• Victorian and vintage parlour games
• Village fete and church hall games
• Traditional British party games
• Seaside and beach games
• Decade literature: writers and books by era
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade films: best movies and directors by era
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends by era
• Food by decade: dishes and food trends
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Milestone birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Good luck cards
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are the best books from the 1930s?

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932). The full list above gives the novels and non-fiction worth reading from the decade, with publication years.

Which writers defined the 1930s?

George Orwell, reporting as much as writing novels. The writers section above names the rest.

What was changing in publishing in the 1930s?

Penguin Books launches in 1935: paperbacks at sixpence, the price of ten cigarettes. The trends section covers how books were made, priced and sold.

Do you sell books?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read and free to copy - try a library or a second-hand bookshop for the books.