Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) was arguably the most influential British sculptor of the twentieth century. Brought up in Castleford in Yorkshire in humble circumstances, Moore ended his life extremely successful, completing commissions for large-scale public sculptures in countries around the world. The scale of Moore's later success has tended to obscure the radical nature of his achievement. Rejecting the viewpoint of his teachers and influenced by works from other cultures he saw in museums, Moore championed direct carving, evolving abstract forms derived from the human body. This book and the exhibition it accompanies re-examines his legacy, concentrating on the period from the 1920s through to the early 1960s. Moore's life and work are introduced by Chris Stephens, a leading authority on both Moore and the British art scene of the period.