Considered on of the greatest modern English writers, Edward Morgan Forster produced five novels, two volumes of short stories, and several biographies and collections of essays. Although he lived from 1879 to 1970, his finest fiction all appeared before the end of the 1920s. The son of an architect, Forster was born in London and studied the classics and history at King's College, Cambrige. Before he began his writing career in 1903 as a contributor to the Independent Review, Forster lived for a time in Greece and Italy-countries that serve as the background for a number of his short stories and for two of his novels, 'Where Angels Fear to Tread'(1905) and 'A Room with a View' (1908). Forster's travels to India in 1912 and 1922 inspired his best-known novel, 'A passage to India' (1924). Forster saw the spontaneity and openess to experience in India and the Mediterranean countries as a liberating contrast to the restraint of English civilized society. He used this juxtaposition to explore the nuances of human relationships. In 'Howards End' (1910), the setting is England itself, but the conflict between inward feelings and outward appearances is examined by contrasting the symbolic freedom of a country home with the restrictive conventions of middle-class society. Together with 'Howards End' this book presents 'Where Angels Fear to Trend' and A Room with a View, both of which use Italy as the setting for the author's revealing studies of the nature of love and the struggle between emotional lifelessness and vitality. --Book Jacket.