Civilisation Clive Bell wrote this book circa the First World War period and proposed to investigate the nature of Britain's leading war-aim ('fighting for civilisation'). The author intends to enquire what this thing is for which whole generations seem to have fought and for which taxpayers pay. In fact this book even analyses what civilisation is not.
Clive Bell (1881-1964), an English art critic, was best known for promoting his theory of formalism. He was a philosopher who defended abstract art and was a member of the Bloomsbury School.