This is the story of how the lives of British artists, from the late-nineteenth century to the present day, reflected and refracted the profound changes and historical events in the wider world. In a brilliant narrative that vividly evokes the personalities who populate and drive this story—including Aubrey Beardsley, Damien Hirst, and Barbara Hepworth—author Michael Bird reevaluates how we look at the history of modern Britain.

Bird illuminates how British artists have been remembered, reimagined, and reshaped by a century of dramatic events. Generously illustrated, This is Tomorrow is an absorbing narrative of how history has changed—and continues to change—how artists see and are seen.