ELT & Literary Studies Books

Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, January 2022A TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARA BBC HISTORY MAG BOOK OF THE YEARA DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR'Expressive, bold and quite beautiful' The Lady'[a] delight of a book' Antonia Senior, The Times'ravishingly lovely' The Times Ireland'[a] lively retelling of British myths' Apollo MagazineSoaked in mist and old magic, Storyland is a new illustrated mythology of Britain, set in its wildest landscapes.It begins between the Creation and Noah's Flood, follows the footsteps of the earliest generation of giants from an age when the children of Cain and the progeny of fallen angels walked the earth, to the founding of Britain, England, Wales and Scotland, the birth of Christ, the wars between Britons, Saxons and Vikings, and closes with the arrival of the Normans.These are retellings of medieval tales of legend, landscape and the yearning to belong, inhabited with characters now half-remembered: Brutus, Albina, Scota, Arthur and Bladud among them. Told with narrative flair, embellished in stunning artworks and glossed with a rich and erudite commentary. We visit beautiful, sacred places that include prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge and Wayland's Smithy, spanning the length of Britain from the archipelago of Orkney to as far south as Cornwall; mountains and lakes such as Snowdon and Loch Etive and rivers including the Ness, the Soar and the story-silted Thames in a vivid, beautiful tale of our land steeped in myth. It Illuminates a collective memory that still informs the identity and political ambition of these places.In Storyland, Jeffs reimagines these myths of homeland, exile and migration, kinship, loyalty, betrayal, love and loss in a landscape brimming with wonder.Trade ReviewStoryland is a joyous read celebrating the power of collective myths and the landscapes which inspired them * All About History *Jeffs writes beautifully, erring just on the right side of florid, and her linocut prints make for attractive illustrations. The stories come with explanations of sources and legacies, and she has a lovely knack of rooting each one in the landscape that birthed it. This gorgeous book should live on the bookshelves in every house that cares about "the idea of Britain, what is was and where it came from." * The Times *An elegant book * Sunday Express *[A] spellbinding illustrated mythology of Britain. * Scottish Field Magazine *Rich in myth and legend . . . Beautifully illustrated . . . this is an engaging book, meticulously researched and filled with drama, emotion, action and experience. * The Simple Things *I have fallen so completely in love with this book; Storyland, by Amy Jeffs, just one of the finest, most covetable things around. It's a mythology of Britain; Brutus, Arthur, Scotus, Bladud, a mix of new telling and ancient, with original woodcuts by the author which are so beautiful you want to eat them. The stories are about strangeness and wonder and brutality, a story of Britain from the top of Orkney to the bottom of Cornwall. It's hugely original, and starkly lovely: I've never come across anything quite like it. -- Katherine RundellA beautiful retelling of British myths and exquisitely illustrated too. -- James Holland * Daily Express (BOOK OF THE YEAR) *Storyland is a spellbinding illustrated mythology of Britain . . . With Jeffs at the helm we travel through a powerful medieval mythscape and in doing so, the entirety of Britain. * Scottish Field Magazine *Art historian and printmaker Amy Jeffs brings a fresh perspective to the mythology that flows through Britain for an enlightening, transporting survey of the stories that suffuse our landscape and have shaped its people. * Waterstones *[R]avishingly lovely * The Times Ireland *[A] lively retelling of British myths * Apollo Magazine *Steeped in magic and mystery and grounded in meticulous research in manuscripts and our ancient landscape, Amy's mythical world is movingly articulated. * Bristol Magazine *Elegant retellings of Britain's origin legends sit alongside Jeffs' captivating artworks, which I like so much that I have two hanging in my office. -- Dan Jones for Good Web Guide

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Book SynopsisLeonard Cohen made his name as a poet before he came to worldwide attention as a singer and songwriter. This collection of his poetry was written in Montreal, Mumbai and during his retirement in Mt Baldy.

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Book SynopsisEugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the fates of three men and three women. It was Pushkin's own favourite work, and this new translation conveys the literal sense and the poetic music of the original.

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Book Synopsis''Can''t repeat the past? ... Why of course you can!''Often called ''the great American novel'', F. Scott Fitzgerald''s The Great Gatsby is a story of adulterous love, dreams, and betrayal among the super-rich in 1920s New York. The mysterious and wealthy Jay Gatsby throws extravagant parties while trying to reclaim a lost love. Capturing the excitement and glamour of the era Fitzgerald himself named ''the Jazz Age,'' Fitzgerald''s incandescent prose brings to life a shimmering world of hot jazz, flowing gin, and brute power, as Gatsby''s dreams explode into tragedy. A biting satire of America''s illusions about itself, this definitive chronicle of the 1920s is also a timeless exploration of the allure of our own ideals and romantic imaginationand what happens when we fail to live up to them.This authoritative edition is fully annotated with an introduction from Sarah Churchwell, offering new interpretations and fresh ways of thinking about this much-loved masterpiece.ABOUT THE SERIES:

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Now he found out a new thing namely, that to promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.'An idyllic snapshot of a boy's childhood along the banks of the Mississippi River, Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the author's work that comes closest to his boyhood experiences of growing up in Hannibal in the 1840s.Mischievous and full of energy, Tom enjoys childish pranks and pastimes with his friends, Huck Finn, the town outcast and Joe Harper, his best friend. However, at the town graveyard, Huck and Tom witness a murder, carried out by local vagabond Injun Joe. They vow never to tell a soul about what they have seen and so begins their journey into adulthood as Tom wrestles with his own morality, guilt and anxiety.A coming of age' tale, it is through Tom's adventures and relationships with others that he becomes more responsible and more aw

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Book SynopsisFrom Collins Classics and the author of The Great Gatsby' a marriage unravels in this autobiographical tale.Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.'Set on the French Riviera in the 1920s, American Dick Diver and his wife Nicole are the epitome of chic, living a glamorous lifestyle and entertaining friends at their villa. Young film star Rosemary Hoyt arrives in France and becomes entranced by the couple. It is not long before she is attracted to the enigmatic Dick, but he and his wife hold dark secrets and as their marriage becomes more fractured, Fitzgerald laments the failure of idealism and the carefully constructed trappings of high society in the Roaring Twenties.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

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Book Synopsis''Fitzgerald has solved virtually every problem that has plagued translators of Homer.'' Atlantic Monthly The Iliad is the story of a few days'' fighting in the tenth year of the legendary war between the Greeks and the Trojans, which broke out when Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, abducted the fabulously beautiful Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. After a quarrel between the Greek commander, Agamemnon, and the greatest of the Greek warriors, Achilles, the gods become more closely involved in the action. Their intervention leads to the tragic death of Hector, the Trojan leader, and to the final defeat of the Trojans. But the Iliad is much more than a series of battle scenes. It is a work of extraordinary pathos and profundity that concerns itself with issues as fundamental as the meaning of life and death. Even the heroic ethic itself - with its emphasis on pride, honour, prowess in battle, and submission to the inexorable will of the gods - is not left unquestioned. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade Review'Fitzgerald has solved virtually every problem that has plagued translators of Homer.' Atlantic Monthly

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisDr Huw Lewis-Jones is a historian of exploration with a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He was formerly Curator at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, and the National Maritime Museum, London. His books include The Conquest of Everest (winner of the History Award at the Banff Mountain Festival), The Crossing of Antarctica and Across the Arctic Ocean. He is the author, with Kari Herbert, of the bestseller Explorers' Sketchbooks.

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PICKED BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, INDEPENDENT, IRISH TIMES, SPECTATOR, TLS, NEW STATESMAN, MAIL ON SUNDAY, I PAPER, PROSPECT, REVEW31 AND EVENING STANDARD AS A BOOK OF 2021 'A masterclass from a warm and engagingly enthusiastic companion' Guardian Summer Reading Picks 2021 ‘This book is a delight, and it’s about delight too. How necessary, at our particular moment’ Tessa Hadley ________________ From the New York Times-bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves - and our world today. For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.Trade ReviewA wonderful book … This book is a delight … I love the warmth with which he writes about this teaching, and agree wholeheartedly … All this makes Saunders’s book very different from just another “how to” creative writing manual, or just another critical essay … One of the pleasures of this book is feeling his own thinking move backwards and forwards, between the writer dissecting practice and the reader entering in through the spell of the words, to dwell inside the story -- Tessa Hadley * Guardian *Saunders is such a wise and amiable teacher ... A page-turner -- Robert WebbLuminously perceptive * Guardian *A masterclass in how to be human ... unfailingly, often thrillingly illuminating … Published any time, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain would be a joyous reminder that fiction is “the most effective mode of mind-to-mind communication ever devised”. Published now, it feels like vital and civilising corrective to the pretend certainties of public life – and, increasingly, of our personal lives too * Telegraph *It will stay with you and transform how you read story by story, sentence by sentence * The Times, Best Paperbacks of 2022 *One of the most accurate and beautiful depictions of what it is like to be inside the mind of a writer that I’ve ever read * New York Times *The Russian greats truly shine in this account; but Saunders is the real star. His way of expressing himself is simultaneously supremely intellectual and jovially down-to-earth. It’s rare to read a book and love it so much that you think it’s simply perfect. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is that book -- Viv Groskop * Spectator *Joins a long tradition of using Russian literature as a guide to life … Practical and playful … it also probes exactly how narrative techniques make us more alert, attentive and sympathetic in reading books and the world around us * i news *By the end Saunders is wondering if there is indeed any point in writing at all. I won’t spoil his conclusion. Suffice to say, the hairs on the back of my neck were alert * The Times *Suffused with wry humour … Not an academic interpretation, but a reader’s companion. I was pleasurably absorbed from start to finish * Evening Standard *The Booker-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo considers the art of fiction through seven classic Russian short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol * Guardian, 2021 in Books *The combination of Saunders’s piercing mind and the Russian subjects being Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol promises to be a highbrow treat for fans of literature, and a book offering deep insights into storytelling and how narrative functions * Independent, The books to look out for in 2021 *A literary masterclass * Evening Standard, A look ahead to the best new books in 2021 *But the real star of A Swim isn't Chekhov or Turgenev or Tolstoy or Gogol - it's Saunders himself ... This book will quite simply make you a better, more observant and more understanding reader * Big Issue *Part intro to Russian literature, part musings on craft, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is all pleasure * Financial Times *A worship song to writers and readers * O, The Oprah Magazine *His warmth, enthusiasm and homespun metaphors – all part of that “writerly charm” – banish any sense of the chilly, mechanistic Fiction Lab ... Gleefully overshoots its brief as a technical manual or how-to guide … A Swim in a Pond in the Rain generates more fun, more wit, more sympathetic sense, than we have any right to hope for from a 400-page critical study * Arts Desk *There should be more books like this -- Sameer Rahim * Prospect Podcast *A masterclass from a warm and engagingly enthusiastic companion * Guardian, 50 hottest new books everyone should read *A masterclass in short fiction by one of the finest teachers alive… It is a joyously civilised primer on how to write – and live – better * Daily Telegraph *Warm, playful and acutely perceptive -- Ian Leslie * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Not just astute, humane lit crit but an inspirational manifesto for the art of fiction -- Boyd Tonkin * Spectator, Books of the Year *A masterclass in writing … a real treat -- Naomi Alderman * Spectator, Books of the Year *[I] loved George Saunders’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain … Genial, generous and illuminating ... He is a great teacher as well as a great practitioner, and makes you see more * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year 2021 *A tin of caviar sort of a book … Saunders guides, prods, nudges, urges you to disagree … It will stay with you and transform how you read story by story, sentence by sentence * Sunday Times, 24 best fiction books 2021 *Delightful as well as an engaging work-out for the brain. Just the thing for a New Year’s read * i paper *In clear, fresh, often humorous language, Saunders reveals the various sleights of hand involved in their construction, while never trying to flatten their essential genius. A gem -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Joyful and playful, a book full of wisdom, one to drink in slowly * Independent (Online), The 20 Best Books of 2021 *An eagle-eyed breakdown of short stories by four great Russian writers * Prospect, Best books of 2021 *Saunders is warm and vivacious company, funny and even-handed and increasingly wise … This book is an enthralling delve into life and its narration – for people interested in how fiction works, it’s like breathing oxygen * Revew31, Books of the Year 2021 *

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Book SynopsisHeather O'Donoghue is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse at University of Oxford, UK. Her publications include Old Norse Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction (2004), English Poetry and Old Norse (2014), Narrative in the Icelandic Family Saga (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021) and From Asgard to Valhalla: The Remarkable History of the Norse Myths (2nd Edition, Bloomsbury Academic, 2024). She has also broadcast with the BBC on the topic of the Norse Gods.

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Book SynopsisBrea and Mallory, passionate bibliophiles, and hosts of the Reading Glasses podcast are not too shy to admit that the book-lovers community can easily get a bit snobby and pretentious. Many people with the desire to read get lost in the smog of countless sources commanding how much you should be reading and what you must keep on your shelves. Take in a breath of fresh air with The No-Pressure Book Journal. This journal is carefully designed to help people read better by finding and achieving their reading goals without any guilt, shame, or pressure. Along with plenty of space to track your reading, The No-Pressure Book Journal offers unique prompts, thoughtful essays on reading topics (like how to dump a book when you just aren't feeling it, without a hint of remorse!), and dedicated sections to record all your exciting and insightful reading reflections. This is the perfect journal for readersfrom those who speed through their TBR lists on the regular, to those who just thought, what is a TBR list?Elevate your reading and writing life, on your own schedule and at your own pace, with The No-Pressure Book Journal.

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Book SynopsisPatrimony is a true story about the relationship between a father and a son.Philip Roth watches as his eight-six-year-old father, famous for his vigour, his charm and his skill as a raconteur - lovingly called 'the Bard of Newark' - battles with the brain tumour that will kill him.Trade ReviewNobody writes about the American family with more tenderness and honesty * New Statesman *A simple, moving, generous work * Independent on Sunday *The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away - with words. But the Lord giveth back, miraculously, in the form of this book and this family history * Guardian *A true story, told with all the powerful authority and cunning narrative order of a major writer * Sunday Times *His best work since The Counterlife * Observer *

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Book SynopsisA TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARWhat is the nature of things? Must I think my own way through the world? What is justice? How can I be me? How should we treat each other?Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests, in a life ruled by imagined metaphysical monsters. 2,500 years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbour-cities, that way of thinking began to change. Men (and some women) decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own worrying and thinking minds to the conundrums of life.These great innovators shaped the beginnings of philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus in Ephesus was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. In Lesbos, the Aegean island of Sappho and Alcaeus, the early lyric poets asked themselves How can I be true to myself?' In Samos, Pythagoras Trade Review A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘What links all Nicolson’s writing, though, is a tireless and tigerish sense of wonder and curiosity; a bounding willingness to immerse himself and his reader deeply in his subject: life… I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book that marries such profundity with such a sense of fun. How to Be delivers wholeheartedly on the promise of its vaunting title. It is like a net strung between the deep past and the present, a blueprint for a life well lived’ OBSERVER ‘This eminently readable tour of Greek philosophy from approximately 650 to 450 B.C. brings the ‘sea-and-city world’ of Heraclitus and Homer to life . . . [He shows] the early Greeks developed intellectual habits, chief among them the use of questioning as the basis of knowing, which laid the groundwork for Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and for how we reason today’ NEW YORKER ‘Wise, elegant . . . richer and more unusual than [the self-help genre], an exploration of the origins of Western subjectivity’ WASHINGTON POST 'Seductive… a poetic tour of philosophical thought’ SPECTATOR ‘Passionate, poetic, and hauntingly beautiful, Adam Nicolson’s account of the west’s earliest philosophers brings vividly alive the mercantile hustle and bustle of ideas traded and transformed in a web of maritime Greek cities.. In this life-affirming, vital book, those ideas sing with the excitement of a new discovery’ David Stuttard ‘It’s hard not to be dazzled by this book … No one else writes with the originality, energy and persuasiveness of Adam Nicolson. It’s like encountering the Greek sea. It takes your breath away’ Laura Beatty, bestselling author of Lost Property

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Book SynopsisWhat's this you're writing? asked Pooh, climbing onto the writing table.The Tao of Pooh, I replied.The how of Pooh? asked Pooh, smudging one of the words I had just written.The Tao of Pooh, I replied, poking his paw away with my pencil.It seems more like ow! of Pooh, said Pooh, rubbing his paw.Well, it's not, I replied huffily.What's it about? asked Pooh, leaning forward and smearing another word.It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances! I yelled.Have you read it? asked PoohWinnie-the-Pooh has a certain way about him, a way of doing things that has made him the world''s most beloved bear, and Pooh''s Way, as Benjamin Hoff brilliantly demonstrates, seems strangely close to the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism.Follow the Pooh Way in this humorous and enlightening introduction to Taoism, with classic decorations by E.H.Shepard throughout. Over a million copies sold to date.This deluxe anniversary edition is a beautiful gift for any fans of this classic title or everyone's favourite bear.Trade Review‘Winnie-the-Pooh has always been a very special (albeit funny old) bear, not least of all because his books are filled with wonderful words of wisdom.', Stylist magazine "Aspects of Taoism told through the characters of 'Winnie the Pooh' – I mean, does it get better?” Meghan Markle ‘Mr. Hoff gives grown-ups permission to rediscover Winnie the Pooh’ New York Times

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Book SynopsisDiscover Virginia Woolf's informative and erudite critical essays on some of the key novelists and dramatists of the canon from the ancient Greeks to Jane Austen and beyond.Virginia Woolf read, and wrote, as an outsider, denied the educational privileges of her male contemporaries. She was perhaps better able, then, to address a ''common reader'' in this wide-ranging collection of essays. With all the imagination and gaiety that are the stamp of her genius, she turns from medieval England to tsarist Russia, and subjects Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian novelists and modern essayists to her wise, acute and entertaining scrutiny.Essays on Jane Austen, George Eliot, Nancy Mitford, Joseph Conrad, Michel de Montaigne, Daniel Defoe and many others.Trade ReviewHer essays are delightful in the way that serious play is delightful. She is enjoying herself, and reading her gives me that leaping sense of being in excellent company -- Jeanette Winterson * The Times *More like novels than ordinary criticism * New Statesman *Woolf was easily the greatest literary journalist of her age -- James Wood, * Guardian *It is all pure Woolf, so distinctive is her voice - ironic, cool, conversational and playful, shrewd and fantastical by turns -- Literary Review

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Book SynopsisRoger McGough has written over fifty books for both adults and children. Much travelled and translated, he has won many awards including the freedom of the city of Liverpool and the CBE. He currently presents Poetry Please on Radio 4.Trade ReviewUnique ... worthily the 'people's poet Mail * Daily Mail *Delightfully self-deprecating autobiography ... his prose is lovely, considered, concise and frequently frivolous, but it never strays far from the poetry that is his natural environment and, essentially, his subject * The Independent on Sunday *A warm-hearted book about the extraordinary life of an extraordinary man. He may choose to depict himself as Mr Ordinary, but there is nothing at all ordinary about his energy or talent * Independent *

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Book SynopsisSatan is out for revenge. His rebellion has failed, he has been cast out from heaven and is doomed to spend eternity in hell. Somehow he must find a way to prove his power and wound his enemies. He fixes upon God''s beloved new creations, Adam and Eve, as the vehicles of his vengeance. In this dramatic and influential epic, Milton tells the story of the serpent and the apple, the fall of man and the exile from paradise in stunningly vivid and powerful verse.Trade ReviewOffers an intensely filmic description of the events that countless artists have sought to visualise * The Times *Milton represents the English imagination at its most organised, disciplined and sublime -- Tom Paulin * Guardian *Never was a work of literature so imbued with the visual. He creates a universe that never existed, and paints it so you see it and are overwhelmed by its immensity, its magnificent splendour at the top end, the great dark plains and huge rocky mountains, the fires and storms at the other - and the horror of the void between -- Julian Rathbone * Independent *I read Paradise Lost when I was 11, and it made me suddenly realise that the Devil was sexy, which was quite muddling at that age and had disastrous consequences in that I then lusted after unsuitable men for the rest of my life -- Jilly Cooper * Daily Mail *When the blind John Milton came to retell the story of Genesis in book seven of Paradise Lost he dwelt with understandable poignancy on the sheer visual loveliness of the newly created world. Anyone who thinks Milton is a pedantic old bore should peruse the lines that celebrate the wonder and beauty of birds' flight, migration and song * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisVolume two of Le Morte D''Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory''s powerful and elegaic version of the Arthurian legend, recounts the adventures of Sir Tristram de Liones and the treachery of Sir Mordred, and follows Sir Launcelot''s quest for The Holy Grail, his fatally divided loyalties, and his great, forbidden love for the beautiful Queen Guenever. Culminating in an account of Arthur''s final battle against the scheming, deceitful Mordred, this is the definitive re-telling of the Arthurian myth, weaving a story of adultery, treachery and ultimately - in its tragic finale - death. Edited and published by William Caxton in 1485, Malory''s moving prose romance looks back to an idealised Medieval age of chivalry, drawing on French and English verse sources to create an epic masterpiece of passion, enchantment, war and betrayal.

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Book SynopsisXenophon''s History recounts nearly fifty turbulent years of warfare in Greece between 411 and 362 BC. Continuing the story of the Peloponnesian War at the point where Thucydides finished his magisterial history, this is a fascinating chronicle of the conflicts that ultimately led to the decline of Greece, and the wars with both Thebes and the might of Persia. An Athenian by birth, Xenophon became a firm supporter of the Spartan cause, and fought against the Athenians in the battle of Coronea. Combining history and memoir, this is a brilliant account of the triumphs and failures of city-states, and a portrait of Greece at a time of crisis.Table of ContentsA History of My TimesIntroductionSelect BibliographyA Note on the NotesA History of My TimesBook OneBook TwoBook ThreeBook FourBook SixBook SevenAppendixMaps:1. The Aegean2. Asia Minor3. Northern Peloponnese and North West Greece4. Central Greece5. Area of the Isthmus and the Saronic Gulf6. Central and Southern Peloponnese7. ChalcidiceIndex

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Book SynopsisEgil's Saga tells the story of the long and brutal life of tenth-century warrior-poet and farmer Egil Skallagrimsson: a morally ambiguous character who was at once the composer of intricately beautiful poetry, and a physical grotesque capable of staggering brutality. The saga recounts Egil's progression from youthful savagery to mature wisdom as he struggles to avenge his father's exile from Norway, defend his honour against the Norwegian King Erik Bloodaxe, and fight for the English King Athelstan in his battles against Scotland. Exploring issues as diverse as the question of loyalty, the power of poetry, and the relationship between two brothers who love the same woman, Egil's Saga is a fascinating depiction of a deeply human character.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout

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Book SynopsisThe Agricola is both a portrait of Julius Agricola—the most famous governor of Roman Britain and Tacitus' well-loved and respected father-in-law—and the first detailed account of Britain that has come down to us. It offers fascinating descriptions of the geography, climate and peoples of the country, and a succinct account of the early stages of the Roman occupation, nearly fatally undermined by Boudicca's revolt in AD 61 but consolidated by campaigns that took Agricola as far as Anglesey and northern Scotland. The warlike German tribes are the focus of Tacitus' attention in the Germania, which, like the Agricola, often compares the behaviour of barbarian peoples favourably with the decadence and corruption of Imperial Rome.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throu

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA unique history of the Beats, in the words of the movement''s most central member, Allen Ginsberg, based on a seminal series of his lecturesIn 1977, twenty years after the publication of his landmark poem ''Howl'', Allen Ginsberg decided it was time to teach a course on the literary history of the Beat Generation - partly to preserve his own memories of those years. The Best Minds of My Generation presents the best of these candid, intimate and illuminating lectures, revealing Kerouac, Burroughs and the rest of the Beats as Ginsberg knew them: friends, confidantes, literary mentors and fellow visionaries in a group who started a revolution.''Marvellous ... spellbinding ... preserving intact the story of the literary movement Ginsberg led, promoted and never ceased to embody'' The New York Times Book Review''An awesome exhaustive feat ... fascinatingly readable'' Sunday Times''Astonishingly intimate ... Full of penetrating insight and fascinating literary gossip, the book is a major contribution to the core Beat canon ... situates the Beats in cultural history in a way that no other exploration of their work does'' San Francisco Chronicle

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Book SynopsisAn essential anthology that puts contemporary geniuses Eileen Myles and Margaret Atwood in conversation with literary classics Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde about the liberating and unique combination of poetry and proseA Penguin Classic The prose poem has proven one of the most innovative and versatile poetic forms of recent years. In the century-and-a-half since Charles Baudelaire, Emma Lazarus, Oscar Wilde and Ivan Turgenev spread the notion of a new kind of poetry, this genre with an oxymoron for a name has attracted many of our most beloved writers. Yet, even now, this peculiarly rich and expansive form is still misunderstood and overlooked. Here, Jeremy Noel-Tod reconstructs the history of the prose poem for us by selecting the essential pieces of writing, covering a greater chronological sweep and international range than any previous anthology of its kind. Noel-Tod even calls it an alternative history of modern poetry. In The Penguin Book o

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Book SynopsisGalen of Pergamum (AD 129--c. 210), physician and philosopher, anatomist, logician, clinical and pharmacological theorist and researcher, and personal doctor to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, was the most influential and versatile medical author of the Graeco-Roman world. Galen: An Anthology provides the most comprehensive range of his medical, philosophical, and autobiographical works in English, each accompanied by a brief introduction and explanatory notes. Grouped by themes, the selected texts encompass the scope and variety of Galen's work, from the nature of his medical practice to the content of his philosophical theories. This anthology includes revised translations of Galen's most accessible and interesting shorter works alongside fresh translations of excerpts from the most important longer ones--texts which are in many cases inaccessible or out of print. The translations rely on the latest scholarly research, and in the case of several works, on the findings of a recently disc

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Book SynopsisThis edition offers a new translation of a selection of the Buddha's most important sayings reflecting the full variety of material: biography of the Buddha, narrative, myth, short sayings, philosophical discourse, instruction on morality, meditation, and the spiritual life. It provides an excellent introduction to Buddhist scripture.Trade ReviewRupert Gethin's 'Sayings of the Buddha' [is] translated with an eye toward readability. * Buddhaharma *This short volume is...a resource for teachers and students, and anyone interested in early Buddhist literature. * Buddhaharma *

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Book SynopsisA biography of the book that inspired Prince to adopt purple as his signature color, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Richard Powers to become a writer, and countless other creative people to become artists.A primer on the art and design of children''s picture books, renowned children''s literature scholar Philip Nel takes the reader on an illustrated tour through all that made Crockett Johnson''s Harold and the Purple Crayon an astonishing success: from Harold''s clear line, Johnson''s carefully planned improvisation, the Garamond typeface, the real Harolds who inspired the title character, how Johnson overcame his editor''s initially lukewarm reaction, to the role of the book''s three colors (purple, brown, white), and whether or not the tan-hued Harold himself is a child of color. In a series of microhistories that ripple outward from Harold and the Purple Crayon, 30 brief chapters explore the big ideas behind this small book. Johnson''s classic raises questions about the nature of reality; creative expression during the Cold War; the implied audience of children''s literature; abstract art versus representational art; and the color of crayons, ink, and people. All of these questions depend upon how children''s picture books work--in this case, the apparent invisibility of Johnson''s design choices, the limits imposed by the offset color lithography printing process, the history of the crayon, and the book''s circulation into the hands of many real children around the world.This small book explores the pleasures of looking closely. Indeed, picture books are many people''s introduction to looking closely. As a portable gallery, the picture book is a democratic art form, requiring only a library card to view. In modeling the pleasures of sustained attention, this book invites you to look closely at art that interests you--picture books, of course, but any kind of art. When you look, listen, or read closely, what questions does the art invite?

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Book SynopsisPlease note this title is suitable for any student studying: Exam Board: AQA Level: AS/A Level Subject: Drama and TheatreFirst teaching: 2015First exams: 2017This student book comprehensively covers both the AQA AS and A Level Drama and Theatre specifications and has been approved by AQA. It provides coverage of the set texts, guidance on interpretations and support for studying a range of practitioners, advice on approaching and assessing theatre visits and support for creating original drama and the Working Notebook. Structured so as to allow for co-teachability of AS and A Level and developed from OUP''s well-loved resources for the previous specification, this new student book will provide all the support and guidance students need as they engage in their studies and prepare for assessments.

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Book SynopsisBorn in 1926 in France, Foucault is one of those rare philosophers who has become a cult figure. Over the course of his life he dabbled in drugs, politics, and the Paris SM scene, all whilst striving to understand the deep concepts of identity, knowledge, and power. From aesthetics to the penal system; from madness and civilisation to avant-garde literature, Foucault was happy to reject old models of thinking and replace them with versions that are still widely debated today. A major influence on Queer Theory and gender studies (he was openly gay and died of an AIDS-related illness in 1984), he also wrote on architecture, history, law, medicine, literature, politics, and of course philosophy. In this Very Short Introduction Gary Gutting presents a wide-ranging but non-systematic exploration of some highlights of Foucault''s life and thought. Beginning with a brief biography to set the social and political stage, he then tackles Foucault''s thoughts on literature, in particular the avant-garde scene; his philosophical and historical work; his treatment of knowledge and power in modern society; and his thoughts on sexuality. This new edition includes feminist criticisms of Foucault''s apparently sexist treatment of the Jouy case, as well as a new chapter offering a unified overview of the Collège de France lectures, now a major focus of interest in Foucault. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1: Lives and works 2: Literature 3: Politics 4: Archaeology 5: Genealogy 6: The masked philosopher 7: Madness 8: Crime and punishment 9: Modern sex 10: Ancient sex 11: Foucault after Foucault Further reading Index

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Book Synopsis''To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine. Small medieval castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be let For the month of April, above a bay on the Italian Riviera.''Four very different women--the dishevelled and downtrodden Mrs Wilkins, the sad, sweet-faced Mrs Arbuthnot, the formidable widow Mrs Fisher, and the ravishing socialite Lady Caroline Dester--are drawn to the shores of the Mediterranean that April. As each, in turn, blossoms in the warmth of the Italian spring and finds their spirits stirring, quite unexpected changes occur.The Enchanted April (1922) is a deceptive and timely novel immured in a post-war context, a period noted for its wistful and sometimes satiric writings. Von Arnim''s novel is part of this oeuvre and portrays an escape to a carefully described pastoral enclave away from encroaching urbanisation and the spread of new technologies, in an era when the Great War had left many emotionally and physically starved. The journey to San Salvatore by four Trade ReviewAnchored within the lives of four very different women, this overtly potent novel is endemic of the era in which it was written, whilst simultaneously timeless and all transcending. * David Marx: Book Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography Chronology THE ENCHANTED APRIL Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisThough well-known to many Whitman scholars, Specimen Days is an underrated 'late' prose work which chronicles the life of one of the world's best loved and most influential poets.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Walt Whitman SPECIMEN DAYS Appendix A: "Preface. To the Reader in the British Islands" Appendix B: "Additional Note. Written 1887 for the English Edition" Explanatory Notes Glossary of Persons Mentioned

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Book SynopsisOxford Student Texts offer an accessible route into the study of texts for A Level including line-by-line notes, and detailed sections covering key themes, issues and contexts. This edition focuses on ''She Stoops to Conquer'' by Oliver Goldsmith.

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Book SynopsisThis representative selection includes five tales of very different kinds written in the 1850s and the longer Cousin Phillis. Immensely readable and sophisticated works of art, they show Gaskell's mastery of the genre, in an edition that celebrates her achievements in shorter fiction and the context in which they first appeared.Table of ContentsLizzie Leigh ; Morton Hall ; My French Master ; Half a Life-Time Ago ; The Manchester Marriage ; Cousin Phillis

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Book SynopsisNever has contemporary fiction been more widely discussed and passionately analysed; recent years have seen a huge growth in the number of reading groups and in the interest of a non-academic readership in the discussion of how novels work. Drawing on his weekly Guardian column, ''Elements of Fiction'', John Mullan examines novels mostly of the last ten years, many of which have become firm favourites with reading groups. He reveals the rich resources of novelistic technique, setting recent fiction alongside classics of the past. Nick Hornby''s adoption of a female narrator is compared to Daniel Defoe''s; Ian McEwan''s use of weather is set against Austen''s and Hardy''s; Carole Shield''s chapter divisions are likened to Fanny Burney''s. Each section shows how some basic element of fiction is used. Some topics (like plot, dialogue, or location) will appear familiar to most novel readers; others (metanarrative, prolepsis, amplification) will open readers'' eyes to new ways of understanding and appreciating the writer''s craft. How Novels Work explains how the pleasures of novel reading often come from the formal ingenuity of the novelist. It is an entertaining and stimulating exploration of that ingenuity. Addressed to anyone who is interested in the close reading of fiction, it makes visible techniques and effects we are often only half-aware of as we read. It shows that literary criticism is something that all fiction enthusiasts can do. Contemporary novels discussed include: Monica Ali''s Brick Lane; Martin Amis''s Money; Margaret Atwood''s The Blind Assassin; A.S. Byatt''s Possession; Jonathan Coe''s The Rotters'' Club; J.M. Coetzee''s Disgrace; Michael Cunningham''s The Hours; Don DeLillo''s Underworld; Michel Faber''s The Crimson Petal and the White; Ian Fleming''s From Russia with Love; Jonathan Franzen''s The Corrections; Mark Haddon''s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time; Patricia Highsmith''s Ripley under Ground; Alan Hollinghurst''s The Spell; Nick Hornby''s How to Be Good; Ian McEwan''s Atonement; John le Carré''s The Constant Gardener; Andrea Levy''s Small Island; David Mitchell''s Cloud Atlas; Andrew O''Hagan''s Personality; Orhan Pamuk''s My Name Is Red; Ann Patchett''s Bel Canto; Ruth Rendell''s Adam and Eve and Pinch Me; Philip Roth''s The Human Stain; Jonathan Safran Foer''s Everything Is Illuminated; Carol Shields''s Unless; Zadie Smith''s White Teeth; Muriel Spark''s Aiding and Abetting; Graham Swift''s Last Orders; Donna Tartt''s The Secret History; William Trevor''s The Hill Bachelors; and Richard Yates''s Revolutionary Road .Trade ReviewIt strikes me that none of our readers can afford to be without this book! I'm an admirer of John Mullan's 'Guardian' columns, and this is definitely something that we should be reviewing. * Edward Fenton. 'The Oxford Writer *A brilliant crash course in contemporary fiction * Waterstones Books Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Beginning ; 2. Narrating ; 3. People ; 4. Genre ; 5. Voices ; 6. Structure ; 7. Detail ; 8. Style ; 9. Devices ; 10. Literariness ; 11. Ending

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Book Synopsis''I beg as soon as you get Fielding''s Joseph Andrews, I fear in Ridicule of your Pamela and of Virtue in the Notion of Don Quixote''s Manner, you would send it to me by the very first Coach.'' (George Cheyne in a letter to Samuel Richardson, February 1742) Both Joseph Andrews (1742) and Shamela (1741) were prompted by the success of Richardson''s Pamela (1740), of which Shamela is a splendidly bawdy parody. But in Shamela Fielding also demonstrates his concern for the corruption of contemporary society, politics, religion, morality, and taste. The same themes - together with a presentation of love as charity, as friendship, and in its sexual taste - are present in Joseph Andrews, Fielding''s first novel. It is a work of considerable literary sophistication and satirical verve, but its appeal lies also in its spirit of comic affirmation, epitomized in the celebrated character of Parson Adams. This revised and expanded edition follows the text of Joseph Andrews established by Martin C.

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Book SynopsisFielding''s comic masterpiece of 1749 was immediately attacked as `A motley history of bastardism, fornication, and adultery''. Indeed, his populous novel overflows with a marvellous assortment of prudes, whores, libertines, bumpkins, misanthropes, hypocrites, scoundrels, virgins, and all too fallible humanitarians. At the centre of one of the most ingenious plots in English fiction stands a hero whose actions were, in 1749, as shocking as they are funny today. Expelled from Mr Allworthy''s country estate for his wild temper and sexual conquests, the good-hearted foundling Tom Jones loses his money, joins the army, and pursues his beloved across Britain to London, where he becomes a kept lover and confronts the possibility of incest. Tom Jones is rightly regarded as Fielding''s greatest work, and one of the first and most influential of English novels. This carefully modernized edition is based on Fielding''s emended fourth edition text and offers the most thorough notes, maps, and bibliography. The introduction uses the latest scholarship to examine how Tom Jones exemplifies the role of the novel in the emerging eighteenth-century public sphere. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade Reviewwith each volume having an introduction by an acknowledged expert, and exhaustive notes, the World's Classics are surely the most desirable series and, all-round, the best value for money * Oxford Times *well-produced edition. * Daily Telegraph Arts & Books section, 5 July 1997 *

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Book SynopsisThe Oresteian trilogy (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides) established the themes of Greek tragedy - the inexorable nature of Fate, the relationship between justice, revenge, and religion. The plays dramatize the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, the revenge of her son Orestes, and his judgement by the court of Athens. This new translation seeks to preserve the plays' qualities as theatre and as literature.Table of ContentsAgamemnon ; Libation Bearers ; Eumenides

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Book SynopsisJ M Synge was one of the key dramatists in the flourishing world of Irish literature at the turn of the century. This volume offers all of Synge''s plays, which range from racy comedy to stark tragedy, all sharing a memorable lyricism. The introduction sets Synge''s work in the context of the Irish literary movement, with special attention to his role as one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre and his work alongside W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. Includes: Riders to the Sea; The Shadow of the Glen; The Tinker''s Wedding; The Well of the Saints; The Play of the Western World; Deirdre of the Sorrows ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsRiders to the Sea ; The Shadow of the Glen ; The Tinker's Wedding ; The Well of the Saints ; The Playboy of the Western World ; Deirdre of the Sorrows

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Book Synopsis`there are half a million more women than men in this unhappy country of ours . . . So many odd women - no making a pair with them.'' The idea of the superfluity of unmarried women was one the `New Woman'' novels of the 1890s sought to challenge. But in The Odd Women (1893) Gissing satirizes the prevailing literary image of the `New Woman'' and makes the point that unmarried women were generally viewed less as noble and romantic figures than as `odd'' and marginal in relation to the ideal of womanhood itself. Set in grimy, fog-ridden London, these `odd'' women range from the idealistic, financially self-sufficient Mary Barfoot and Rhoda Nunn, who run a school to train young women in office skills for work, to the Madden sisters struggling to subsist in low-paid jobs and experiencing little comfort or pleasure in their lives. Yet it is for the youngest Madden sister''s marriage that the novel reserves its most sinister critique. With superb detachment Gissing captures contemporary soci

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Book SynopsisMore than a century after the Norman Conquest, England remains a colony of foreign warlords. The dissolute Prince John plots to seize his brother''s crown, his barons terrorize the country, and the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood haunts the ancient greenwood. The secret return of King Richard and the disinherited Saxon knight, Ivanhoe, heralds the start of a splendid and tumultuous romance, featuring the tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, the siege of Torquilstone, and the clash of wills between the wicked Templar Bois-Guilbert and the sublime Jewess Rebecca. In Ivanhoe Scott fashioned an imperial myth of national cultural identity that has shaped the popular imagination ever since its first appearance at the end of 1819. The most famous of Scottish novelists drew on the conventions of Gothic fiction, including its risky sexual and racial themes, to explore the violent origins and limits of English nationality. This edition uses the 1830 Magnum Opus text, corrected against the Interlea

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIphigenia among the Taurians ; Bacchae ; Iphigenia at Aulis ; Rhesus

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