The origins, historical significance and demise of Encounter

Encounter's historical significance lies in its being an Anglo-American cultural and political phenomenon and in its anti-communist ideological project. The histories of the British literary intellectuals and the "New York Intellectuals" are traced, with particular reference to their relationship to the development of intellectual and literary periodicals. The relationship of Encounter to its sponsoring organisations and to the American governing class is fully explored. These relationships were crucial for both the intellectual impetus and the financial security which Encounter needed. The New York Intellectuals provided the intellectual drive and political consciousness which shaped Encounter into the journal which it was. The breaking of the connections between this group of intellectuals and the American governing class sowed the seeds of Encounter's eventual demise, and explains its change from a broadly social democratic to a neoconservative political position.