John Galsworthy, who was born 150 years ago as of yesterday, has fallen out of favour of late. He dealt with social problems in novels and particularly in his plays, which were a critical and occasionally commercial success in Edwardian times. He had a sense of irony, but his lack of humour probably militates against revivals of Strife (1909), and Justice (1910), which would otherwise strike chords today. (Winston Churchill, then a Liberal minister, admired Justice.)
The novels making up The Forsyte Saga have never been out of print and perhaps we may yet see a dramatisation which combines the best and eliminates the drawbacks of the centenary BBC production and the 2002 ITV version.
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