ELT & Literary Studies Books
HarperCollins Publishers Complete Works of Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar Collins
Book SynopsisThe Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde is the only truly complete and authoritative single-volume edition of Oscar Wilde's works, and is available in both hardback and this paperback edition.Continuously in print since 1948, the Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde has long been recognised as the most comprehensive and authoritative single-volume collection of Wilde's texts available, containing his only novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, as well as his plays, stories, poems, essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts.Illustrated with many fascinating photographs, the book includes introductions to each section by Merlin Holland (Oscar's grandson), Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kiberd and Terence Brown.Also included is a comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Oscar Wilde, and a chronological table of his life and work.
£13.49
Bodleian Library Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth
Book SynopsisThis richly illustrated book explores the huge creative endeavour behind Tolkien’s enduring popularity. Lavishly illustrated with over 300 images of his manuscripts, drawings, maps and letters, the book traces the creative process behind his most famous literary works – 'The Hobbit', 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Silmarillion' and reproduces personal photographs and private papers,some of which have never been seen before in print. Tolkien drew on his deep knowledge of medieval literature and language to inform his literary imagination. Six introductory essays cover some of the main themes in Tolkien’s life and work including the influence of northern languages and legends on the creation of his own legendarium; his concept of ‘Faërie’ as a literary construct; the central importance of his invented languages in his fantasy writing; his visual imagination and its emergence in his artwork; and the encouragement he derived from the literary group known as the Inklings. This book brings together the largest collection of original Tolkien material ever assembled in a single volume. Drawing on the archives of the Tolkien collections at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, and Marquette University, Milwaukee, as well as private collections, this exquisitely produced catalogue draws together the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien – scholarly, literary, creative and domestic – offering a rich and detailed understanding and appreciation of this extraordinary author.Trade Review'The excellent catalogue is well worth its £40.' * The Times *'...a splendid collective effort that offers the reader a beautiful, accurate and at times moving portrayal of Tolkien, the man and the author, But, just as importantly, it successfully captures the complexity and depth of Tolkien's literary endeavour, facilitating the reader's approach to a monumental, many-layered palimpsest.' * Cercles Journal *'Enjoyable and quick to read from cover to cover, but it is also a beautiful book that begs to be flipped through. Thankfully, the well-researched information that accompanies each high-quality image makes this sort of a la carte consumption not only possible but also satisfying.' * Western Folklore Journal *'Better than the show itself, with all the things she wanted to include in the show but couldn’t.' -- Melanie McDonagh * The Spectator *'This is a near-perfect collection and an utter delight for those who love Middle-earth.' * Starburst Magazine *'J.R.R. Tolkien fans needs to know about "Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth" … Incredible … A hefty book packed full of gorgeous, fascinating images.' * io9 *'A compelling and extraordinarily rich account of J.R.R. Tolkien's life and literary history interspersed between three hundred images … Really, you should just go and get this … awesome and lore-packed book. 'Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth' is the book beyond the exhibit, which endures even as the other diminishes and sails into the West. It's sure to enrich any fan's appreciation for Tolkien the mortal Man.' * Tor.com *'"Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth" is a pure delight, one that I'll return to many times in the years to come. … I have many more books about Tolkien than I do ones he has written, and this is the best of those about him so far.' * Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine *'The single best, and best value, one-stop-shop for the visual material associated with JRR Tolkien.' * The Notion Club Papers – an Inklings Blog *'I can honestly say it is not just a beautiful and important art book, but a critical biographical publication for study and research too. Well done! … A wonderful, and important, book. Don’t wait to get one if you are on the fence!' * @TolkienGuide *Table of ContentsContents Foreword Note to the Reader 1. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch, by Catherine McIlwaine 2. Tolkien and the Inklings, by John Garth 3. Faërie: Tolkien's Perilous Land, by Verlyn Flieger 4. Inventing Elvish, by Carl F. Hostetter 5. Tolkien and ‘that noble northern spirit’, by Tom Shippey 6. Tolkien’s Visual Art, by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull CATALOGUE Reading Tolkien: ‘to England; to my country’ Childhood: ‘the undarkened heart and mind’ Student Days: ‘Friendship to the Nth power' Sheer Invention: 'new patterns of old colours’ The Silmarillion: ‘myth-woven and elf-patterned’ The Professor at Home: ‘from time already mortgaged’ The Hobbit: ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’ The Lord of the Rings: ‘lightning from a clear sky’ Mapping Middle-earth: ‘Not all those who wander are lost’ Further Reading Acknowledgements Contributors Picture credits Index
£34.00
HarperCollins Publishers North and South
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.But the cloud never comes in that quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it.'When Margaret Hale is uprooted from Hampshire and moves to the industrial town of Milton in the North of England, her whole world changes. As her sympathy for the town's mill workers grows, her sense of social injustice piques and she passionately fights their corner. However, just as she disputes the mill owner, John Thornton's treatment of his workers, she cannot deny her growing attraction to him. Highlighting the changing landscape of nineteenth-century Britain and championing the role of women in Victorian society, Gaskell brilliantly captures the lives of ordinary people through one of her strongest female characters in literature.
£5.94
Oxford University Press The Scarlet Letter
Book SynopsisAfter a two-year absence a husband returns to find his wife wearing the scarlet 'A' for Adulteress on her breast. Determined to find her lover, he embarks on a destructive path of revenge. This edition uses the most authoritative text, with a wide-ranging critical introduction.
£6.64
HarperCollins Publishers Sauron Defeated
Book SynopsisThe final part of The History of The Lord of the Rings, an enthralling account of the writing of the Book of the Century which contains many additional scenes and includes the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety.In the first section of Sauron Defeated Christopher Tolkien completes his fascinating study of The Lord of the Rings. Beginning with Sam's rescue of Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and giving a very different account of the Scouring of the Shire, this section ends with versions of the hitherto unpublished Epilogue, in which, years after the departure of Bilbo and Frodo from the Grey Havens, Sam attempts to answer his children's questions.The second section is an edition of The Notion Club Papers. These mysterious papers, discovered in the early years of the twenty-first century, report the discussions of an Oxford club in the years 1986-7, in which after a number of topics, the centre of interest turns to the legend of Atlantis, the strange communications received by othTrade Review‘Christopher Tolkien shows himself to be his father’s son… Tolkien devotees will rejoice’ The New York Times Book Review
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald
Book SynopsisFrom Collins Classics and the author of The Great Gatsby' comes this razor-sharp satire on the excesses of the Jazz Age.From the author of The Great Gatsby, a tale of marriage and disappointment in the Roaring Twenties.Fitzgerald's rich and detailed novel of the decadent Jazz Era follows the beautiful and vibrant Anthony Patch and his wife Gloria as they navigate the heady lifestyle of the young and wealthy in 1920s New York. Patch is the presumptive heir to his grandfather's fortune, and keeps his equally spoiled wife in comfort while biding time until his grandfather's death. Patch is unable to hold down any kind of job and spends his days in luxury, indulging in whatever pleasures are available. But as the money begins to fail, so does their marriage. Patch's gradual descent into alcoholism, depression and alienation from his marriage ultimately lead to his ruin. Fitzgerald's novel is a remorseless exploration of the horrors of an age of excess and lost innocence.F. Scott Fitzgerald
£5.62
Penguin Books Ltd Speak Memory
Book Synopsis''Speak, memory'', said Vladimir Nabokov. And immediately there came flooding back to him a host of enchanting recollections - of his comfortable childhood and adolescence, of his rich, liberal-minded father, his beautiful mother, an army of relations and family hangers-on and of grand old houses in St Petersburg and the surrounding countryside in pre-Revolutionary Russia. Young love, butterflies, tutors and a multitude of other themes thread together to weave an autobiography, which is itself a work of art.
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Uses of Enchantment
Book SynopsisBruno Bettelheim was Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago from 1944 to 1973. He died in 1990.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Erotic Poems
Book SynopsisThis collection of Ovid's poems deals with the whole spectrum of sexual desire, ranging from deeply emotional declarations of eternal devotion to flippant arguments for promiscuity. In the Amores, Ovid addresses himself in a series of elegies to Corinna, his beautiful, elusive mistress. The intimate and vulnerable nature of the poet revealed in these early poems vanishes in the notorious Art of Love, in which he provides a knowing and witty guide to sexual conquest - a work whose alleged obscenity led to Ovid's banishment from Rome in AD 8. This volume also includes the Cures for Love, with instructions on how to terminate a love affair, and On Facial Treatment for Ladies, an incomplete poem on the art of cosmetics.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 history and across genres and discipTable of ContentsThe Erotic PoemsList of AbbreviationsPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe AmoresThe Art of LoveCures for LoveOn Facial Treatment for LadiesNotes and ReferencesSelect Reading List
£11.69
Oxford University Press Collected Maxims and Other Reflections
Book Synopsis''Our virtues are, most often, only vices in disguise.''Deceptively brief and insidiously easy to read, La Rochefoucauld''s shrewd, unflattering analyses of human behaviour have influenced writers, thinkers, and public figures as various as Voltaire, Proust, de Gaulle, Nietzsche, and Conan Doyle. The author gave himself the following advice: ''The reader''s best policy is to assume that none of these maxims is directed at him, and that he is the sole exception...After that, I guarantee that he will be the first to subscribe to them.''This is the fullest collection of La Rochefoucauld''s writings ever published in English, and includes the first complete translation of the Réflexions diverses (Miscellaneous Reflections). A table of alternative maxim numbers and an index of topics help the reader to locate any maxim quickly and to appreciate the full range of La Rochefoucauld''s thought on any of his favourite themes, such as self-love, vice and virtue, love and jealousy, friendship and self-interest, passion and pride. 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 ReviewThis superb publication of La Rouchefoucauld's seminal 'Maxims' combines the erudition and comprehensiveness of a scholarly edition with the welcoming accessibility of a first-class textbook. * Kevin De Ornellas, University of Ulster *
£10.44
Faber & Faber Collected Poems
Book SynopsisThis collection presents all the poems Auden wished to preserve, in the texts that received his final approval. It included the full contents of his previous collected editions along with all the later volumes of his shorter poems. Together, these works display the astonishing range of Auden's voice and the breadth of his concerns, his deep knowledge of the traditions he inherited, and his ability to recast those traditions in modern times.
£999.99
Faber & Faber The Redress of Poetry
Book SynopsisThese lectures were delivered by Seamus Heaney while he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. In the first of them, Heaney discusses and celebrates poetry''s special ability to redress spiritual balance and to function as a counterweight to hostile and oppressive forces in the world. He proceeds to explore how this ''redress'' manifests itself in a diverse range of poems and poets, including Christopher Marlowe''s ''Hero and Leander'', ''The Midnight Court'' by the eighteenth-century Irish poet Brian Merriman, John Clare''s vernacular writing and Oscar Wilde''s ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol''. Several twentieth-century poets are also discussed - W. B. Yeats, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop and others - and the whole book constitutes a vivid proof of the claim that ''poetry is strong enough to help''.
£15.29
Cambridge University Press The Cambridge Centennial Edition of The Great
Book Synopsis
£17.00
Oxford University Press Devils
Book SynopsisDevils, also known in English as The Possessed and The Demons, was first published in 1871-2. The third of Dostoevsky''s five major novels, it is at once a powerful political tract and a profound study of atheism, depicting the disarray which follows the appearance of a band of modish radicals in a small provincial town. Dostoevsky compares infectious radicalism to the devils that drove the Gadarene swine over the precipice in his vision of a society possessed by demonic creatures that produce devastating delusions of rationality.Dostoevsky is at his most imaginatively humorous in Devils: the novel is full of buffoonery and grotesque comedy. The plot is loosely based on the details of a notorious case of political murder, but Dostoevsky weaves suicide, rape, and a multiplicity of scandals into a compelling story of political evil. _ This new translation also includes the chapter `Stavrogin''s Confession'', which was initially considered to be too shocking to print. In this edition it appears where the author originally intended it. 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. _ _
£9.89
Faber & Faber Philadelphia Here I Come
Book SynopsisFed up with the dreary round of life in Ballybeg, with his uncommunicative father and the humiliating job in his father''s grocery shop, with his frustrated love for Kathy Doogan who married a richer, more successful young man and with the total absence of prospect and opportunity in his life at home, Gareth O''Donnell has accepted his aunt''s invitation to come to Philadelphia. Now, on the eve of his departure, he is not happy to be leaving Ballybeg.With this play Brian Friel made his reputation and it is now an acknowledged classic of modern drama.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Book of Taliesin Poems of Warfare and Praise
Book SynopsisThe great work of Welsh literature, translated in full for the first time in more than 100 years by two of its country's foremost poetsA Penguin ClassicTennyson portrayed him, and wrote at least one poem under his name. Robert Graves was fascinated by what he saw as his work's connection to a lost world of deeply buried folkloric memory. He is a shapeshifter; a seer; a chronicler of battles fought, by sword and with magic, between the ancient kingdoms of the British Isles; a bridge between old Welsh mythologies and the new Christian theology; a sixth-century Brythonic bard; and a legendary collective project spanning the centuries up to The Book of Taliesin's compilation in fourteenth-century North Wales. He is, above all, no single he.The figure of Taliesin is a mystery. But of the variety and quality of the poems written under his sign, of their power as exemplars of the force of ecstatic poetic imagination, and of the fascinating window they off
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Taming of the Shrew
Book SynopsisWilliam Shakespeare was born in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and died in 1616. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Honorary President of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.Margaret Jane Kidnie is Professor of English at the University of Western Ontario.
£7.99
WW Norton & Co Beowulf A Verse Translation
Book Synopsis“Accomplishes what before now had seemed impossible: a faithful rendering that is simultaneously an original and gripping poem in its own right.” —New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"Magnificent, breathtaking... Heaney has created something imperishable and great that is stainless—stainless, because its force as poetry makes it untouchable by the claw of literalism: it lives singly, as an English language poem." -- The Guardian
£16.40
Princeton University Press The Ramayaa of Valmiki
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""A masterpiece of scholarship."---Wendy Doniger, New York Review of Books
£22.50
HarperCollins Publishers The Merchant of Venice Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.''The quality of mercy is not strain''d,It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven'Bassiano, a noble Venetian, hopes to woo the beautiful heiress Portia. However, he requires financial assistance from his friend Antonio. Antonio agrees, but he, in turn, must borrow from the Jewish moneylender Shylock. As recourse for past ills, Shylock stipulates that the forfeit on the loan must be a pound of Antonio's flesh. In the most renowned onstage law scene of all time, Portia proves herself one of Shakespeare's most cunning heroines, disguising herself as a lawyer and vanquishing Shylock's claims; meanwhile, Shylock triumphs on a humanitarian level with his plea for tolerance: Hath not a Jew eyes?'Viewed paradoxically as anti-Semitic, while at the same time powerfully liberal for its time, The Merchant of Venice is at its core a bittersweet drama, exploring the noble themes of prejudice, justice and honour
£5.02
HarperCollins Publishers Shakespeares Book
Book SynopsisA lively picture of multiple operators scrambling to steal a march on the competition . . . Lavishly detailed'FINANCIAL TIMESThis is Shakespearean scholarship at its best, brilliantly researched yet compulsively readable. It''s a book for our times, enduringly fascinating and appealing to both enthusiasts and the general reader. Highly recommended!' ALISON WEIRFINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE SUMMERA BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023?A BBC RADIO 4 FRONT ROW NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023AN AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023The year 2023 marks the 400th anniversary of Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, known today simply as the First Folio. It is difficult to imagine a world without The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter's Tale and Macbeth, but these are just some of the plays that were only preserved thanks to the astounding labour of love that went into creating the first collection.Shakespeare's Book: The Intertwined LiveTrade Review PRAISE FOR SHAKESPEARE’S BOOK ‘A superb evocation of the places, personalities and networks that helped turn the words of William Shakespeare into secular scripture. A brilliant, sinewy, deeply immersive read from a fine scholar and storyteller’ Jessie Childs, bestselling author of The Siege of Loyalty House '[A] significant offering… his mission is admirable: to trace every major step in the collective enterprise, starting from the death of the leading Shakespearean actor Richard Burbage in 1619, which served as a melancholy spur… to collate the Bard's works for posterity… [T]he necessary drama is there' Daily Telegraph ‘Laoutaris’s history of the interlinked careers behind the Folio scheme, brings that network to life . . . His resourceful sleuthing ties the Folio’s birth to the politics of its time’ Economist 'Like Shakespeare's plays, Laoutaris's book revolves around detailed interpersonal relationships. From his pages you will learn about the lives of Heminges and Condell… and many others… trestfy[ing] to the thoroughness of the author's research’ Washington Post 'A must read for anyone with even a slight passing fancy for Shakespeare . . . To say this is a book to be read and reread, and have a place on the library shelf, would be a major understatement’ Judith Reveal, New York Journal of Books ‘[A] brilliant new study of the Folio’s genesis … genuinely thrilling. Shakespeare’s Book offers both wonderful vignettes of Shakespeare’s world and tantalising solutions to long-standing mysteries. Laoutaris compellingly recreates the vital collaborations – and rivalries – behind the printing of ‘Shakespeare’s Book’’ The Tablet ‘Intricately woven, vividly depicted and groundbreaking’ Dr Paul Edmondson of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
£22.50
HarperCollins Publishers Republic
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers The Life of Herod the Great
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Story of Alice Lewis Carroll and The Secret
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDThis is the secret history of Alice''s Adventures in Wonderland.Wonderland is part of our cultural heritage. But beneath the fairy tale lies the complex history of the author and his subject. Charles Dodgson was a quiet academic but his second self, Lewis Carroll, was a storyteller, innovator and avid collector of child-friends'. Carroll's imagination was to give Alice Liddell, his ''dream-child'', a fictional alter ego that would never let her grow up. This is a biography that beautifully unravels the magic of Alice. It is a history of love and loss, innocence and ambiguity. It is the story of one man's need to make a Wonderland in a changing world.Trade ReviewIt is the ultimate book about Alice - comprehensive and scholarly, but so delightfully and elegantly written that it's a true work of literature -- Jacqueline WilsonThe Story of Alice is the best book on the myriad enigmas of Carroll’s heart-breaking wonderland I have ever read -- Robert McCrum * Observer *Superb…toweringly the best of the dozens of books on Carroll which I have read -- AN Wilson * Financial Times *Douglas-Fairhurst is a startling and exciting writer -- A.S. Byatt * Spectator *This is biography at its best -- Lyndall Gordon * New Statesman *
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Annotated Alice
Book Synopsis''A landmark, bringing together a lifetime''s work on Lewis Carroll by writer and mathematician Martin Gardner. He dazzles on Carroll''s puzzles and games of logic and entertains on everything from Alice''s influence on the Beat poet Jack Kerouac to howmercury in hat linings turned hatters mad...it is unsurpassed'' - Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times ''The indispensable guide to a classic of English literature...no one who has ever wondered about the meaning of ''Jabberwocky'' should fail to include on their Christmas list'' - Robert McCrum, ObserverTrade Review'A landmark, bringing together a lifetime's work on Lewis Carroll by writer and mathematician Martin Gardner. He dazzles on Carroll's puzzles and games of logic and entertains on everything from Alice's influence on the Beat poet Jack Kerouac to how mercury in hat linings turned hatters mad...it is unsurpassed' - Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times 'The indispensable guide to a classic of English literature...no one who has ever wondered about the meaning of 'Jabberwocky' should fail to include on their Christmas list' - Robert McCrum, Observer
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Fantastic Four
Book SynopsisTrade Review“A groundbreaking example of comics representation in literature.”—Publishers Weekly“Penguin provides introductory essays; superb analyses by the series editor, Ben Saunders; and extensive bibliographies.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post“Stories become classics when generations of readers sort through them, talk about them, imitate them, and recommend them. In this case, baby boomers read them when they débuted, Gen X-ers grew up with their sequels, and millennials encountered them through Marvel movies. Each generation of fans—initially fanboys, increasingly fangirls, and these days nonbinary fans, too—found new ways not just to read the comics but to use them. That’s how canons form. Amateurs and professionals, over decades, come to something like consensus about which books matter and why—or else they love to argue about it, and we get to follow the arguments. Canons rise and fall, gain works and lose others, when one generation of people with the power to publish, teach, and edit diverges from the one before ... A top-flight comic by Kirby—or his successor on “Captain America,” Jim Steranko—barely needed words. You could follow the story just by watching the characters act and react. Thankfully, Penguin volumes do justice to these images. They reproduce sixties comics in bright, flat, colorful inks on thick white paper—unlike the dot-based process used on old newsprint, but perhaps truer to their bold, thrill-chasing spirit.”—Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker“As before, all three of these volumes re-present Professor Ben Saunders’ learned general series intro which does an excellent job of succinctly explaining the rise of Marvel Comics and the Marvel Method.”—Forces of Geek
£21.25
Oxford University Press Inc Herman Melville A Very Short Introduction
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£8.54
Oxford University Press Oxford Student Texts John Milton Paradise Lost
Book SynopsisOne of a series designed to motivate and encourage students who may be working on certain writers for the first time. Each text includes notes to explain literary and historical allusions, tasks to help students explore themes and issues, and suggestions for further reading.
£999.99
Oxford University Press Utopia
Book SynopsisA new edition of Thomas More's Utopia—a 16th century socio-political critique made through a satirical account of an idealised fictional society. This edition is based on the first English translation of the text and provides novel insights into More's context and intentions, as well as the influence of the translator.
£8.54
Oxford University Press Late Heaney
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£19.00
Oxford University Press A Tale of Two Cities
Book SynopsisAs the the bicentennary of the French Revolution draws near, Dickens'' historical novel serves as a timely reminder of nineteenth-century reactions to that great upheaval. Set between 1757 and 1793, A Tale of Two Cities views the causes and effects of the Revolution from an essentially private point of view, showing how private experience relates to public history. Dickens'' characters are fictional, and their political activity is minimal, yet all are drawn towards the Paris of the Terror, and all become caught up in its web of human suffering and human sacrifice. This edition includes extensive explanatory notes giving crucial background information about the Revolution and Dickens'' sources. `the best story I have written'' Charles Dickens 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 wTrade Review'I shall treasure the richly detailed explanatory notes. It's an edition which will surely sell to the general reader; yet many truer Dickens specialists than I will be excited by the scope and subtlety of the introduction.' Dr P. Merchant, Christ Church College, Canterbury'The large clear print, very full notes, and inclusion of Dickens's number plans make it the best paperback available for student use.' Professor Norman Page, University of NottinghamI read it every other year. It is the best story of the best hero. It does not pale. * You (Mail on Sunday Magazine) *
£5.99
Oxford University Press Little Women
Book SynopsisTrade Review'this children's novel for all ages is vivid from the very first sentence. ... a children's classic ... lovers of the book will find Valerie Alderson's informed and enthusiastic introduction a valuable bonus, especially about the closely autobiographical nature of the book.' The Observer Review
£7.59
Little, Brown Book Group Poems For Gardeners
Book SynopsisMarianne Moore said that the poet's job was to depict 'imaginary gardens with real toads in them'. In truth, gardens are always imaginary because they are always the garden that you are aiming for rather than the garden you have, but the toads are real and immediate.' So says Germaine Greer in this wonderful anthology. This collection of poems, culled from classical antiquity to the twenty-first century, includes perennial favourites such as Marvell's 'The Garden' and Frost's 'After Apple-picking' and Roethke's famous greenhouse lyrics, as well as surprises like Tennyson's anti-botanical 'Amphion' and Fleur Adcock's 'Emblem' on the mating of slugs, not to mention small masterpieces like Philip Larkin's 'Cut Grass' and Phoebe Hesketh's 'Death of a Gardener'. Poems for Gardeners can be read along with the seed catalogues in the dead of winter, or in the gaps between tasks on a busy day in spring, or between snoozes in the hammock in the deep midsummer.
£15.29
Taylor & Francis An Introduction to Narratology
Book SynopsisAn Introduction to Narratology is an accessible, practical guide to narratological theory and terminology and its application to literature. In this book, Monika Fludernik outlines: the key concepts of style, metaphor and metonymy, and the history of narrative forms narratological approaches to interpretation and the linguistic aspects of texts, including new cognitive developments in the field how students can use narratological theory to work with texts, incorporating detailed practical examples a glossary of useful narrative terms, and suggestions for further reading. This textbook offers a comprehensive overview of the key aspects of narratology by a leading practitioner in the field. It demystifies the subject in a way that is accessible to beginners, but also reflects recent theoretical developments and narratologyâs increasing popularity as a critical tool.Table of ContentsPreface 1. Narrative and Narrating 2. The Theory of Narrative 3. Text and Authorship 4. The Structure of Narrative 5. The Surface of Narrative 6. Realism, Illusionism and Metafiction 7. Language, the Representation of Speech, and the Stylistics of Narrative 8. Thoughts, Feelings and the Unconscious 9. Narrative Typologies 10. Diachronic Approaches to Narrative 11. Practical Applications 12. Guidelines for Budding Narratologists. Glossary of Narratological Terms. Works Cited. Index
£35.99
Africa World Books Pty Ltd The Stories of Kulang Toat
Book Synopsis
£18.99
Montserrat Publishing Fluent Everyday English Book 4 in the Everyday
Book SynopsisFluent Everyday English is the fourth and final book in the Practical EverydayEnglish series and follows the same format as the previous three titles. These self-study books are designed to improve the everyday vocabulary of adult advancedstudents of English as a foreign language.
£17.28
Pearson Education Limited York Notes for AQA GCSE 91 Rapid Revision Guide
Book Synopsis
£6.06
Pearson Education Tess of the DUrbervilles York Notes Advanced
Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.
£7.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Doctor Faustus
Book SynopsisPaul Menzer is Professor and Director of the Mary Baldwin College Shakespeare and Performance programme at Mary Baldwin College, USA.Table of ContentsIntroduction Preface Plot summary Analysis 1. Historical and literary contexts 2. Performance aspects of the text 3. Critical interpretations Resources and annotated bibliography A note on the text The Play
£10.99
Hodder Education AS/A-level English Literature Workbook: Othello
Book SynopsisExam board: AQA A, AQA B, Edexcel, CCEALevel: A-levelSubject: EnglishFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Check, reinforce and improve critical skills and textual understanding to give students the best chance of success in their AS/A-level English Literature exams.Containing over 150 ready-made activities for Othello - with comprehensive answers provided online - this write-in Workbook:- Actively develops knowledge and skills as students practise questions that cover plot and structure, themes, characterisation, form and language, contexts and critical approaches- Ensures that every student achieves real progress with activities that gradually build in difficulty, plus additional 'Challenge yourself' tasks to target the top grades- Helps students make the transition from GCSE to AS/A-level, with guidance from experienced examiners and teachers on higher-level skills, such as analysing structure and using literary terminology- Focuses on exam skills with a separate section that includes practice essay questions and advice on: question types; essay planning; writing about extracts and whole texts; using evidence and context- Encourages independent learning as students use their Workbook at home or in class, throughout the course or for revision and exam preparation- Supports the AQA A, AQA B, Edexcel and CCEA AS/A-level English Literature specifications through a wide range of activities suitable for every exam board
£12.62
Reaktion Books Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo (1802-85) is an icon of French culture. He achieved immense success as a poet, dramatist, and novelist, and he was also elected to both houses of the French Parliament. Leading the Romantic campaign against artistic tradition and defying the Second Empire in exile, he became synonymous with the progressive ideals of the French Revolution. His state funeral in Paris made headlines across the world, and his breadth of appeal remains evident today, not least thanks to the popularity of his bestseller, Les Mis rables, and its myriad theatrical and cinematic incarnations.This biography, the first in English for over twenty years, provides a concise but comprehensive exploration of Hugo's monumental body of work within the context of his dramatic life. Hugo wrestled with family tragedy and personal misgivings while being pulled into the turmoil of the nineteenth century, from the fall of Napoleon's Empire to the rise of France's Third Republic. Throughout these twists of fate, he sensed a natural order of collapse and renewal. This unending cycle of creation shaped his ideas about freedom and roused his imagination, which he channeled into his prolific writing and other outlets like drawing. As Bradley Stephens argues, such creative intellectual vigor suggests that Hugo was too restless to sit comfortably on the pedestal of literary greatness; Hugo's was a mind as revolutionary as the time in which he lived.
£12.34
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Twelfth Night: Third Series
Book SynopsisCritically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays, Twelfth Night is a classic romantic comedy of mistaken identities. In recent years it has returned to the centre of critical debate surrounding gender and sexuality. The Introduction explores the multiple factors that make up the play's rich textual, theatrical, critical and cultural history. Keir Elam surveys the play's production and reception, emphasizing the role of the spectator both within the comedy and the playhouse.Trade Review'Brings together into one volume a wealth of textual, bibliographical, and critical scholarship...emplifies scholarly achievement...' Shakespeare Quarterly (2009)
£10.90
Springer International Publishing AG Writers and Their Mothers
Book SynopsisIan McEwan, Margaret Drabble, Martin Amis, Rita Dove, Andrew Motion and Anthony Thwaite are among the twenty-two distinguished contributors of original essays to this landmark volume on the profound and frequently perplexing bond between writer and mother. In compelling detail they bring to life the thoughts, work, loves, friendships, passions and, above all, the influence of mothers upon their literary offspring from Shakespeare to the present. Many of the contributors evoke the ideal with fond and loving memories: understanding, selfless, spiritual, tender, protective, reassuring and self-assured mothers who created environments favorable to the development of their children’s gifts. At the opposite end of the parenting spectrum, however, we also see tortured mothers who ignored, interfered with, smothered or abandoned their children. Their early years were times of traumatic loss, unhappily dominated by death and human frailty. Elegantly assembled and presented, Writers and Their Mothers will appeal to everyone interested in biography, literature, and creativity in general.Trade Review“In this lively collection of essays, the legacy of maternal blessings (which they mostly describe) is thoughtfully and skilfully unpacked...“ (The Guardian's Book of the Week in March 2018)“What a great project, I just can't believe that no one has done it before.” (Times Literary Supplement podcast, March 8, 2018)“In each case, these women are shown to be different to one another, whether in strength or foible, all wielding a unique influence over their children, and en masse, this makes for a compelling, and varied read. In his collection, Salwak simply asserts that good writing is likely to flourish because of, or in spite of, a mother’s influence. In considering how far such an arc of influence might stretch, the enduring strength of these essays … .” (Julia O'Mahony, The Irish Times, irishtimes.com, April, 2018)Table of Contents1. Shakespeare’s Mother(s) - Hugh M. Richmond.2. John Ruskin and Margaret - Anthony Daniels, M.D.3. Ambitious Daughter: Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother - Gardner McFall.-4. Walt Whitman and His Mother - Kenneth Silverman.5. The Maternal Embrace: Samuel Beckett and His Mother May - Margaret Drabble.6. William Golding’s Mother - Judy Carver.7. Voice Rehearsals & Personas in Sylvia’s Letters to Aurelia - Adrianne Kalfopoulou.8. No Villainous Mother: The Life of Eva Larkin - Philip Pullen.9. Robert Lowell: Trapped in Charlotte’s Web - Jeffrey Meyers.10. Mother Tongue: A Memoir - Ian McEwan.11. “Persistent Ghost” - Anthony Thwaite.12. Living with Mother - Catherine Aird.13. “Bring her again to me . . . “ - Ann Thwaite.14. My Mother, and Friends - Reeve Lindbergh.15. My Mother’s Desk - Martha Oliver-Smith.16. Mater Sagax - Rachel Hadas.17. My Wicked Stepmother - Martin Amis.18. About “My Mother Enters the Work Force” - Rita Dove.19. A Shadow in the Grass - Andrew Motion20. Mrs. Gabbet’s Desk - David Updike.21. Dreams of a Mother and Daughter - Lyndall Gordon22. Her Programme -Tim Parks.
£17.55
Chartwell Books The Iliad
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Chartwell Books Little Women
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Chartwell Books Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Union Square & Co. Jane Austen Seven Novels Deluxe Bookmark
Book SynopsisThis deluxe vegan leather bookmark, evoking gilded leather tomes of old, features gold foil stamping and a silken tassel, making it the perfect addition to any book lover?s collection. Union Square and Co.?s Classic Vegan Leather Bookmark series feature iconic titles sure to appeal to book lovers of all stripe: the series is launching with designs based on the leather-bound classics editions of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, The Iliad and the Odyssey, Grimm?s Complete Fairy Tales, Alice?s Adventures in Wonderland and Jane Austen: Seven Novels.
£10.25
Yale University Press Jews and Words
Book SynopsisA celebrated novelist and an acclaimed historian of ideas, father and daughter, unravel the chain of words at the core of Jewish life, history, and cultureTrade ReviewPraise for Amos Oz’s A Tale of Love and Darkness: "Both in his fiction and his essays, Oz has proven himself one of our essential writers, laying out for our observation, in ever-increasing breadth and profundity, the mad landscape of our time and his place—always enlarging the scope of his questions while avoiding the temptation of dogmatic answers."—Alberto Manguel, Washington Post Book World"A charmingly funny book—not just humorous but sometimes downright hilarious. The essence of it is that the natural condition of the Jewish people—and the source of their resilience—is being in argument with the world, with one another and, to be sure, with God himself. But you cannot get the taste of this book, let alone its essence, without reading it."—Martin Peretz, Wall Street Journal"A thought-provoking essay on language, literature and the eternal question of Jewish identity. . . . Jews and Words is filled with fascinating anecdotes and details. . . . A stimulating meditation on what it means to be a Jew and what it means to be a reader."—Wall Street Journal"Playfully instructive. . . . Will appeal to lay readers interested in a nonreligious Judaism based on contemporary readings of traditional and more modern Jewish texts."—Publishers Weekly "In [Jews and Words] . . . boisterous excitement over words and ideas generates a little paradise beyond politics. It opens up a garden of play and joy, of dispute without hate and passions without victims."—Independent"[A] provocative, playful, speculative journey through the rich, centuries-old heritage of Jewish literature."—Natasha Lahrer, Jewish Chronicle"Jews and words is a thought-provoking essay on language, literature and the eternal question of Jewish identity. . . . Filled with fascinating anecdotes and details, not least the etymologies of various words dating back to ancient Hebrew. . . . A stimulating meditation on what it means to be a Jew and what it means to be a reader."—Toby Lichtig, The Wall Street Journal Europe"[An] exhilarating essay." —Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman"In this provocative, playful, speculative journey through the rich, centuries-old heritage of Jewish literature, father and daughter Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger propose a 'textline' rather than a bloodline — a notion of Jewish lineage that is etched not in blood but in words."—Jewish Chronicle"Jews and Words is a conversation between two people who love each other, informed by a wonderful sense of humor and a passionate yet measured analysis of language, people, and literature. Honesty shines through every paragraph of this terrific work."—Yehuda BauerPraise for Fania Oz-Salzberger’s Israelis in Berlin: "An exciting, deeply moving, masterly book. It combines a wealth of knowledge with great emotional power."—Zeruya Shalev"Ingenious and thrilling, Jews and Words manages to cram more than 5,000 years of prayers, songs, stories, arguments, praises, curses and jokes into the suitcase of a thin, page-turning work of . . . what? History? Anthropology? Literary criticism? Theology? All of these and more. It's a wonderful book."—Jonathan Safran Foer"Jews and Words is thrilling and entertaining, challenging clichés and stereotypes at every page. Its tone is half serious and half humorous, mixing a mastery of its subject with an informal touch. It promises to be very controversial and widely read."—Mario Vargas Llosa"Absolument passionnant."—Bernard-Henri Lévy
£12.88
