Shangri-La, a figment of author James Hilton’s imagination, has become synonymous with a peaceful perfection where life takes a back seat in a tranquil sanctuary. Hilton created this utopia in his book Lost Horizon for which he won the Hawthornden Prize in 1933. This wasn’t Hilton’s first novel though. In fact, it was his ninth published novel, including those he wrote under the pseudonym Glen Trevor. Hilton, born in Leigh, Lancashire, England in 1900, started writing as a boy while attending the Leys School, Cambridge. He wrote poetry, short stories, and articles for the school magazine. WWI was going on at this time, and it was this time period where Hilton’s views and thoughts on war were formed and are seen later on in his novels. James Hilton’s writings show a love of England’s traditions by using main characters that have integrity and are identifiable to every man, by discussing war and its consequences, by appealing to the hearts of his readers, and by giving them a chance to imagine a future of peace. Hilton attended Christ’s College, also in Cambridge. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and History. After graduation, Hilton worked for Dublin’s Irish Independent and London’s Daily Telegraph as a journalist. Hilton wasn’t able to be a full-time writer until 1931 when his novel And Now Goodbye became profitable. Hilton’s most successful novel, though, was Good-bye, Mr. Chips. Surprisingly, American readers made this book extremely popular and an instant best seller. After WWI, England was full of drastic social changes, an economic recession, and high unemployment rates across the nation. When WWI ended, “the working class became a more powerful political force” (After the War), women became more organized in their efforts to gain power, and there were “less deferential attitudes between the classes” since they had worked so closely together, literally, in the trenches (After the War). The war had touched everyone! England was also hugely in debt, to the tune of $10 million (referaty.com), “and its major creditor, the USA, began to emerge as the world’s strongest economy” (After the War), and as a result, taxes rose from 6% to 25% (referaty.com). Furthermore, in 1921, unemployment had reached its pinnacle (11.3%) since regular record-keeping times (After the War). These changes play a big role in many of Hilton’s writings because he was well-known for having antiwar sentiments (James Hilton 90). He witnessed England’s changes after WWI, and he didn’t like them. In 1934, Hilton wrote Good-bye Mr. Chips, where he discusses how a boarding school changes through several generations of boys before, during, and after WWI. One of the things that never changed through those years was the constant presence of Mr. Chipping, Mr. Chips for short. One of the things Mr. Chips does, as a protest to the war, is he reads, out loud, a list of former and current students and teachers who have died in the war. Controversy quickly follows when one of the names read off is a former teacher who was of German descent and he chose to fight for the Germans. Mr. Chips also tells “some big brass hat from the War Office that bayonet-fighting was vulgar” (Hilton 98-99). At the time of many of Hilton’s writings, the readers have been faced with many harsh realities such as war, great economic depression, loss of friends and family, and the breakdown of family and community relationships. In Lost Horizon, Hilton gives his readers a chance to get away from their harsh realities and escape to Shangri-La. Before WWI, the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, told the British people the war would create a “land fit for heroes to live in” (First World War). This statement was incredibly untrue. John Crawford states, “World War One, followed by world-wide depression, caused a melancholy mood” (186-190). Crawford continues that “even though H