The death of Raymond Williams in January 1988 brought to an end the career of a critic whose work on culture and the politics of literature has enjoyed a widespread influence. In this study, Alan O'Connor provides an elucidation of Williams' complex oeuvre. An important focus of his account is Williams' interrogation of "keywords", their shifting meanings charting cultural and historical changes and instabilities. A second crucial focus is Williams' analysis of written forms - the "knowable community" in the English novel and "complex seeing" in drama. While analyzing the social and political content of Williams' writings, whether dealing with television, drama or the novel, O'Connor also provides a "cultural history" of the critic himself as a politically engaged writer and activist.