Ten great novels of the 20th century

that si ngle European nation to withstand the onslaught of fasc ism during World War II . Had Britain fallen, the entire complexion of World War II would have chan ged . Chu rchill's ------"--' ...... special re lationship with U.S. Pres ident Franklin D, Roosevelt made the United States a partner for preserving Bri tai n's integrity. That made it possible for Britain to become the launch ing pad for the great Normandy invasion. Churchill 's voice also helped define the postwar world in 1946, when he gave his famous Iron Curtain speech at Fulton, Mo.

3. JOSEF STALIN aided Adolph Hitler's attack on Poland by signing a non-aggression treaty with Germany in August of 1939. With Hitler's attack on Russia in June of 1941, Stalin withstood the forces of Germany for three years before D-Day of 1944. After the war, Stalin 's leadership of the Soviet Union helped launch the Cold War that so consumed the superpowers - and much of the world - until 1990.

.. aifl'!. 2. ADOLPH HITlER'S vision, his power to mobilize Germany, and his aggression caused World War II , with all of its destructive force and !&G1i:ilIiii1:W;l its challenge to civilization.

,--------" 1. In my view, FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVElT influenced civilization more than any other individual. Elected president for four terms, Roosevelt exerted presidential power in new and exhila rating ways to get the United States through the most devastating depression in its history. He then played a key role in mobil izi ng the forces that withstood the threats of military dictatorship and oppression during World War II. His and others' visions of a better world provided the outline the great democracies have pursued since his death in 1945. A great plus for the world was his extraordinary wife, Eleanor, who contributed mightily to redefining the role of women in the world and to creating a standard for judgi ng human rights. Had I eleven choices, El eanor wou ld have been one of them.

Except for Roosevelt being the most importa nt, the other numerical ra nkings have no significance.

Lawrence O. Christensen is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of history at UMR.

By Elizabeth Cummins (cummins@umr.edu)

[ realize this list looks clean and authoritative in print, but the pages of notes and printouts [ worked from were messy and jumbled and represented contlicting authorities.

Considerable controversy arose last year, when the Modern Library issued its list of the top [00 Eng[ishlanguage novels of the century. Counter lists appeared quickly in print and on Web sites, accompanied by discussions as to whether or not such lists should have been drawn up in the lirst place.

Aware of this controversy and sensitive to the that any list evaluating works of literature is inevitably shaped by the list-maker's sociocultura[ environment, [ want to be very clear about the parameters for the list [ offer here.

My goal was a list that balances the contributions of both women and men novelists of the 20th century and the contributions by novelists worldwide. [n other words, [ wanted to show that, to borrow a familiar British saying, "the sun never sets on the novel-writing wor[d."

Thoughts about the readers of this list also inlluenced me. What books, [ asked, are currently in print or available from public and academic libraries'? What books will function as ways in to a larger number of books that tell stories in different ways, about different areas of the world, and different subjects'? [n a[phabetical order by author, [ offer the following great novels of the 20th century:

Chinua Achebe, Thillgs Fall Apart, [958, Nigeria

Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, [900, Poland/England

Nadine Gordimer, July's People, 1981, South Africa

Thomas Mann, The Magic Moulltaill, 1924, Germany

Gabrie[ Garcia Marquez, Olle HUlldred Years of Solitude, 1967, Colombia

Toni Morrison. Beloved. 1987. United States

Bharati Mukherjee. Wife. 1975. India/Canada

Marce[ Proust, Remembrallce of Thillgs Past. 1913-27, France

Virginia Woolf. To The Lighthouse, 1927. England

Yevgeny Zamiatin. We. 1920. Russia

Elizabeth Cummins is 8 professor and former chair of English at UMR.