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.