Final answer:
T.S. Eliot, a prominent Modernist poet, was influenced by both American and British cultures and the historical context of WWI. His works, such as 'The Waste Land', reflect the era's themes of disillusionment and isolation.
Step-by-step explanation:
T.S. Eliot's Historical Context
T.S. Eliot was one of the pivotal figures in the Modernist movement. Born in 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri, Eliot was exposed to culture and business from a young age due to his mother's involvement in the cultural scene and his father's success in business. Eliot's journey in academia took him from Harvard to the Sorbonne and eventually to Oxford, although his permanent relocation was to England because of World War I. There, he entrenched himself in the literary world, not only by producing significant poetic works such as The Waste Land and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, but also by influencing literary criticism with his essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent." Eliot's experiences leading up to and during WWI deeply influenced his writing, weaving together themes of disillusionment, religious insecurity, and isolation, characteristics emblematic of the Modernist era.
Eliot's unique experiences and habitats - America and the United Kingdom, academia and the corporate world, the cultural scene and the stark realities of war - flavored his poetry and critical works. His transition from scholar to poet, educator, banker, and finally an editorial force at Faber and Faber Publishing House marked a career that shaped not only his own writing, but also the course of modern literature.