ELT & Literary Studies Books

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'Elizabeth Bennet, full of vivacity and wit, lives a quiet country existence with her four sisters. To the delight of their mother, determined to find her daughters suitable matches, the eligible Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them dancing, wealth and opportunity. At first repulsed by Darcy's haughty air, Elizabeth vows to have nothing to do with him. It is only as she makes her own errors of judgement that the pair begin to understand each other, and come to realise that first impressions are not always as they seem.Jane Austen's best-loved tale of marriage and society in Georgian England continues to delight modern readers with its social comedy, well-drawn characters and subtle nuances.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.'When Charles Marlow agrees to captain a steamer up the Congo in search of the elusive ivory trader Mr Kurtz, it becomes a terrifying journey into both the unknown and his own subconscious. As he travels deeper and deeper into the dense jungle, he begins to sense the presence of this extraordinary and terrible man, and to question the horrifying realities of European imperialism and of human nature itself.Originally published as a three-part story in 1899, Conrad's masterpiece has inspired many further works, including Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and remains a thought-provoking text to this day.

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Book SynopsisAn absolute belter of a biography' MARINA HYDEA Times Literary Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2022An LA Times Best Book of the Year 2022An intimate, revealing and profoundly moving biography of Jean Rhys, acclaimed author of Wide Sargasso Sea. An obsessive and troubled genius, Jean Rhys is one of the most compelling and unnerving writers of the twentieth century. Memories of a conflicted Caribbean childhood haunt the four fictions that Rhys wrote during her extraordinary years as an exile in 1920s Paris and later in England. Rhys's experiences of heartbreak, poverty, notoriety, breakdowns and even imprisonment all became grist for her writing, forming an iconic Rhys woman' whose personality vulnerable, witty, watchful and angry was often mistaken, and still is, for a self-portrait.Many details of Rhys's life emerge from her memoir, Smile Please and the stories she wrote throughout her long and challenging career. But it's a shock to discover that no biographer until now has researcheTrade Review‘This is a first-class life and a rollicking read. Seymour skilfully interweaves the autographical stories and novels with the people and fortunes in Rhys’s crazily adventurous life. She’s warmly sympathetic to the young ingénue of 17, and only slightly less so to the old bat of 87. She’s also the only Rhys biographer who travelled to Dominica to see what it was about the island — its colours, smells, conflicted history and voodoo sorcery — that haunted Rhys all her days but fired her imagination. The result is close to a masterpiece’John Walsh, Sunday Times ‘Her intimate and insightful biography … certainly reads like a novel. [Seymour] is a bewitching writer … gives us Rhys in all her glory’Laura Freeman, The Times ‘The superb achievement of Miranda Seymour’s painstaking and compassionate new biography is to dispel forever the idea that Rhys was simply a naïve chronicler of her own experiences … in terms of sheer technique, she was a virtuoso’Spectator ‘[A] slyly compelling new biography of Jean Rhys … The narrative has the tension of a thriller as Rhys struggles to finish Wide Sargasso Sea’Rachel Cooke, Observer ‘Seymour,a masterful biographer… tells her story with empathy, precision and a keen eye for the telling detail’LA Times, A Book of the Year 2022 ‘An exhaustive, definitive ride around both the idea and the reality of Jean Rhys … Seymour addresses a writer and woman who is at once self-absorbed and thoughtful, sardonic and sensitive’Siobhán Kane, Irish Times ‘An absolute belter of a biography . . . don’t read if you are afraid of monsters’ Marina Hyde, Favourite Reads of 2022 ‘A very impressive piece of work. A long and tangled life most authoritatively pieced together. I was completely absorbed’Michael Frayn, author of Noises Off

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Book SynopsisExam board: Edexcel Level & Subject: AS and A Level English Literature First teaching: September 2015 Next exams: 2025Trade Review“The new Collins Classroom Classic editions are perfect for schools – clear text, bright covers, a good size for pockets and bags, and a great price that makes buying new class or cohort sets very attractive in these budget-conscious times.” de Stafford School

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER was banned on its publication in 1928, creating a storm of controversy. Lawrence tells the story of Constance Chatterley's marriage to Sir Clifford, an aristocratic and an intellectual who is paralyzed from the waist down after the First World War. Desperate for an heir and embarrassed by his inability to satisfy his wife, Clifford suggests that she have an affair. Constance, troubled by her husband's words, finds herself involved in a passionate relationship with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Lawrence's vitriolic denunciations of industrialism and class division come together in his vivid depiction of the profound emotional and physical connection between a couple otherwise divided by station and society.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.'For a time I believed that mankind had been swept out of existence, and that I stood there alone, the last man left alive.When a strange, meteor-like object lands in the English countryside, the inhabitants of Earth find themselves victims of a terrible attack. Ruthless Martians, armed with heat rays and poisonous smoke, are intent on destroying humanity. As the unnamed narrator struggles to find his way across decimated wastelands, the fate of the planet hangs in the balanceFirst serialised in 1897, The War of the Worlds terrified and thrilled its readers, the fictional alien invasion evoking a new and hair-raising idea: we are not alone. The imagination of H.G. Wells has had a lasting and significant impact on the science fiction genre, and continues to inspire the work of countless writers, artists and directors to this day.Trade Review‘groundbreaking … a true classic that has pointed the way not just for science-fiction writers, but for how we as a civilisation might think of ourselves’ Guardian ‘[Wells’ work is] astonishingly rich in human and historical interest … he foresaw the invention of, among other things, television, tanks, aerial warfare and the atom bomb’ David Lodge ‘I personally consider the greatest of English living writers [to be] H. G. Wells’ Upton Sinclair

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Book SynopsisThe Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors.Trade Review“While all of this is the sort of stuff that professional medievalists love to see, the thing I like most about Perry and Gabriele’s effort is that it is fun. The Bright Ages is written in such an engaging and light manner that it is easy to race through. I found myself at the end of chapters faster than I wanted to be, completely drawn in by the narrative. You can tell how much the authors love the subject matter, and that they had a great time choosing stories to share and evidence to consider.” — Slate "Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating, for as the chapters progress, it dawns on the reader that those who lived in this period were more conventional than cardboard figures. . . . They were, in essence, human." — Boston Globe "This revisionist history of medieval Europe takes apart the myth of a savage, primitive period . . . with passion and verve, [Gabriele and Perry challenge] the reader to tackle assumptions, bias and prejudices about the past to create a more joined-up, inclusive picture of the thousand years that followed the sack of Rome." — Peter Frankopan, The Guardian "The Bright Ages is a necessary book. It does the hard work of introducing audiences to a world that we too often overlook for expressly political reasons. It is also a joyful work. The medieval period, Perry and Gabriele argue, has good news for us. The world can be beautiful without centralized and brutal imperial power." — Los Angeles Review of Books "....a magic carpet ride around all manner of medieval places and moments....Perry and Gabriele are particularly keen to wrestle the Middle Ages from the clutches of white supremacists and other dangerous forces that yearn for a full return to a simplified version of the period. And so the authors present the doings of clever and durable women, too often overlooked among the churning dynasties of the early Middle Ages." — Irish Examiner “The Bright Ages shines a light on an age too often obscured by myth, legend, and fairy tales. Traveling easily through a thousand years of history, The Bright Ages reminds us society never collapsed when the Roman Empire fell, nor did the modern world wake civilization from a thousand-year hibernation. Gabriele and Perry show the medieval world was neither a romantic wonderland nor a deplorable dungeon, but instead a real world full of real people with hopes, dreams, and fears making the most of their time on earth.” — Mike Duncan, author of Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution and The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic “This book is perfect for people who are interested in the period but don't know where to start. Because the scale is sweeping but so well organized. . . . Most importantly, it's really entertaining, so. I recommend.” — Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life and Filthy Animals "A lively, searing, and transformative reimagining of the medieval world, The Bright Ages is brilliant in every way, both lucid in its arguments and sparkling in its prose. A gripping and compulsive read." — Bruce Holsinger, author of A Burnable Book and The Gifted School "In this engaging new history of the Medieval period Gabriele and Perry achieve a feat: they have written something eminently readable, suffused with academic rigor, and ethically responsible." — Candida Moss, author of The Myth of Persecution "Historians Gabriele and Perry argue in this accessible revisionist history that the so-called Dark Ages was actually a period of innovation that helped pave the way for the Renaissance and Enlightenment. . . . They add nuance and complexity to popular conceptions of the Dark Ages and make clear that beauty and achievement existed among the horrors. This is a worthy introduction to an oft-misunderstood period in world history." — Publishers Weekly "Although traditional politics-and–great-men history makes an appearance, the authors keep current by including a surprising number of great women and emphasizing their disapproval of racism, sexism, and slavery. The result is an appealing account of a millennium packed with culture, beauty, science, learning, and the rise and fall of empires." — Kirkus Reviews "Noted medieval historians Gabriele and Perry provide an engaging overview of a complex, yet often oversimplified era....sure to become a new standard for those seeking a comprehensive and inclusive review of medieval times." — Booklist "Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry liberate the Middle Ages from stereotypes and half-truths in The Bright Ages, revealing that world as 'not simple or clean, but messy and human'....[a] lively account of a misunderstood era." — Shelf Awareness "This accessible trip through the medieval world is well worth taking for anyone wishing to better understand its complexity." — Library Journal "Chapter by chapter, Gabriele and Perry usher into view, from behind the curtain of the familiar grand narratives and from multiple locations, an eclectic cast of characters—many of them women—who exemplify, in a multitude of ways, a dazzling brightness where history has instructed us to see only gloom." — First Things

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene''s ''long journey through time'' began in 1904, when he was born into a tribe of Greenes based in Berkhamstead at the public school where his father was headmaster. In A Sort of Life Greene recalls schooldays and Oxford, adolescent encounters with psychoanalysis and Russian roulette, his marriage and conversion to Catholicism, and how he rashly resigned from The Times when his first novel, The Man Within was published in 1929. A Sort of Life reveals, brilliantly and compellingly, a life lived and an art obsessed by ''the dangerous edge of things''.Trade ReviewA great writer who spoke brilliantly to a whole generation -- Alec GuinnessThe setting of his life is beautifully observed and conveyed. I have never admired his writing more - the masterly skill and economy; the excitement he manages to pump, not just into the narrative, but into the very sentences, which throb and glow themselves * Observer *A subversive hero, self-consciously seeking out (in Browning's words) 'the dangerous edge of things,' who lived everywhere and nowhere, a man whom few people ever knew... Greene was a restless traveler, a committed writer, a terrible husband, an appalling father and an admitted manic-depressive * New York Times *This is the work of a remarkable man determined to show he is not particularly remarkable...his fame is secure * Daily Telegraph *Greene wrote some of the most commanding English novels of the twentieth century and some of the slickest commercial thrillers * Newsday *

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Book SynopsisOrwell has become one of the most potent and symbolic figures in western political thought. Even the adjective ''Orwellian'' is now a byword for a particular way of thinking about life, literature and language yet, despite this iconic status, the man who was born Eric Blair in 1903 remains an enigma. Drawing on a mass of previously unseen material, D J Taylor offers a strikingly human portrait of the writer too often embalmed as a secular saint. Here is a man who, for all his outward unworldliness, effectively stage-managed his own life; who combined chilling detachment with warmth and gentleness, disillusionment with hope; who battled through illness to produce two of the greatest masterpieces of the twentieth century. Moving and revealing, Taylor''s Orwell is the biography we have all been waiting for, as vibrant, powerful and resonant as its extraordinary hero.Trade ReviewTaylor wins the biographical contest...[He] is an accomplished literary critic and he illuminates Orwell's work in the context of his life elegantly and expertly * Guardian *Taylor's book has the unmistakable depth of flavour that comes from long, slow, careful cooking-pithy and fascinating -- Jan Dalley * Financial Times *Taylor writes with such skill and aplomb that it's impossible not to be swept along by the intelligence and observations * Independent on Sunday *Taylor's biography is a persuasive and profoundly moving exploration of the ways in which Orwell's work was constructed from the stones of a ruined life-[it] is likely to prove in many ways definitive * Daily Telegraph *Fetchingly original...Taylor's [biography] is pacy socio-journalism -- Ian Thomson * Scotland on Sunday *

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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 SynopsisBeecher Stowe's vivid descriptions uncover the harrowing situations faced by slaves in Civil War America.When a Kentucky farmer faces financial ruin, he reluctantly sells his slaves, and Uncle Tom finds himself the property of a cruel plantation owner, fighting for his freedom and ultimately, for his right to live. With a rich narrative and wonderfully realised characters, this is a panoramic, incredibly accomplished work. Originally published to much acclaim in 1852, it quickly established Harriet Beecher Stowe as one of America's most influential female novelists and was crucial in helping to secure the abolition of slavery.Trade ReviewIts power is that it never makes light of slavery and its attendant vast misery -- John Updike * New Yorker *A century and a half since its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin retains a fascination for Americans… it stoked a furious hostility among many Americans to the continuation of slavery in their own Southern states * Daily Telegraph *The novel's impact was global… Among those who hailed it as a masterpiece were Ivan Turgenev, Victor Hugo, Leo Tolstoy and George Eliot -- Gary Younge * Guardian *Explosive * Economist *

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Book SynopsisAnthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917 and educated at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He served in the British army from 1940 to 1946 and was a schoolteacher in England before becoming a colonial education officer in 1954. His Malayan trilogy of novels and a history of English literature were published while he was living in Malaya and Brunei.He became a full-time writer in 1959 and achieved a worldwide reputation as one of the most versatile novelists of his day. His writings include biographies of Shakespeare and Hemingway, critical studies of James Joyce, stage plays, and two volumes of autobiography. His work as a composer and librettist includes the Broadway musical, Cyrano, and Blooms of Dublin, an operetta based on Joyce's Ulysses.His 33 novels continue to be published all over the world. They include A Clockwork Orange, Nothing Like the Sun, The Complete Enderby, Earthly Powers, NapoleonTrade ReviewBright, racy...knowledgeable and humorous, alternately sensible and quirky. -- Terry EagletonAnthony Burgess's wonderfully well-stocked mind and essentially wayward spirit are just right for summoning up an apparition of the Bard which is more convincing than most -- David Holloway * Daily Telegraph *Animated by affection and an understanding of the creative imagination that only a creative writer can bring to bear * Atlantic *A smooth-flowing narrative, often enlivened by Anthony Burgess's Joycean appetite for linguistic fantasy * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisA vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience. Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare''s language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare''s plays and on the facing page is a unique diagramatic representation of the relationships within each play.

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Book Synopsis‘Kissing, Joseph, is but a Prologue to a Play. Can I believe a young Fellow of your Age and Complexion will be content with Kissing?’Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding’s first full-length novel, depicts the many colourful and often hilarious adventures of a comically chaste servant. After being sacked for spurning the lascivious Lady Booby, Joseph takes to the road, accompanied by his beloved Fanny Goodwill, a much-put-upon foundling girl, and Parson Adams, a man often duped and humiliated, but still a model of Christian charity. In the boisterous short tale Shamela, a brilliant parody of Richardson’s Pamela, the spirited and sexually honest heroine uses coyness and mock modesty to catch herself a rich husband. Together these works anticipate Fielding’s great comic epic Tom Jones, with their amiable good humour and pointed social satire.Judith Hawley’s introduction compares the works of FiTrade Review"Hawley's introduction is a model of what such a thing should be (for an undergraduate audience): full of information, but not too pushy. She manages to touch on a truly remarkable number of important bases in just a few pages—an impressive accomplishment. The notes are good, too. This is the best edition out there for college students." — Douglas Patey, Sophia Smith Professor of English, Smith College

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Book SynopsisA ''romance of many dimensions'' that has fascinated generations of readers with its clever blend of social satire and mathematical theory, the Penguin Classics edition of Edwin A. Abbott''s Flatland introduction by Alan Lightman.A work that continues to pose provocative questions about perception and reality, Flatland is a brilliant parody of Victorian society where all existence is limited to length and breadth - its inhabitants unable even to imagine a third dimension. The amiable narrator, A Square, provides an overview of this fantastic world - its physics and metaphysics, its history, customs and religious beliefs. But when a strange visitor mysteriously appears and transports the incredulous Flatlander to the Land of Three Dimensions, his world view is forever shattered.Written more than a century ago, Flatland conceals within its brilliant parody of Victorian society speculations about the universe that resonate in Einstein''s theory of relativity as well as the current ''string-theory'' of nature.Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926) was a leading scholar and theologian of the Victorian era.If you enjoyed Flatland you may like H.G. Wells''s The Sleeper Awakes, also available in Penguin Classics.Trade Review“At once a classic of science fiction, a playful brainteaser about geometry, a pointed satire of Victorian manners—and, finally, a strangely compelling argument about reason, faith, and the greatest mysteries of the universe.” —The Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisThis compelling Icelandic history describes the life of King Harald Hardradi, from his battles across Europe and Russia to his final assault on England in 1066, less than three weeks before the invasion of William the Conqueror. It was a battle that led to his death and marked the end of an era in which Europe had been dominated by the threat of Scandinavian forces. Despite England's triumph, it also played a crucial part in fatally weakening the English army immediately prior to the Norman Conquest, changing the course of history. Taken from the Heimskringla—Snorri Sturluson's complete account of Norway from prehistoric times to 1177—this is a brilliantly human depiction of the turbulent life and savage death of the last great Norse warrior-king.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 thr

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Book SynopsisAfter the execution of Socrates in 399 BC, a number of his followers wrote dialogues featuring him as the protagonist and, in so doing, transformed the great philosopher into a legendary figure. Xenophon's portrait is the only one other than Plato's to survive, and while it offers a very personal interpretation of Socratic thought, it also reveals much about the man and his philosophical views. In 'Socrates' Defence' Xenophon defends his mentor against charges of arrogance made at his trial, while the 'Memoirs of Socrates' also starts with an impassioned plea for the rehabilitation of a wronged reputation. Along with 'The Estate-Manager', a practical economic treatise, and 'The Dinner-Party', a sparkling exploration of love, Xenophon's dialogues offer fascinating insights into the Socratic world and into the intellectual atmosphere and daily life of ancient Greece.Table of ContentsConversations of Socrates - Xenophon PrefaceIntroductionSocrates' DefenceIntroductionSocrates' DefenceMemoirs of SocratesIntroductionMemoirs of SocratesThe Dinner-PartyIntroductionThe Dinner-PartyThe Estate-ManagerIntroductionThe Estate-ManagerBibliographyIndex of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisAeschylus (525-456 BC) brought a new grandeur and epic sweep to the drama of classical Athens, raising it to the status of high art. The Persians, the only Greek tragedy to deal with events from recent Athenian history, depicts the final defeat of Persia in the battle of Salamis, through the eyes of the Persian court of King Xerxes, becoming a tragic lesson in tyranny. In Prometheus Bound, the defiant Titan Prometheus is brutally punished by Zeus for daring to improve the state of wretchedness and servitude in which mankind is kept. Seven Against Thebes shows the inexorable downfall of the last members of the cursed family of Oedipus, while The Suppliants relates the pursuit of the fifty daughters of Danaus by the fifty sons of Aegyptus, and their final rescue by a heroic king.

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Book SynopsisIn the first century BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, orator, statesman, and defender of republican values, created these philosophical treatises on such diverse topics as friendship, religion, death, fate and scientific inquiry. A pragmatist at heart, Cicero''s philosophies were frequently personal and ethical, drawn not from abstract reasoning but through careful observation of the world. The resulting works remind us of the importance of social ties, the questions of free will, and the justification of any creative endeavour.This lively, lucid new translation from Thomas Habinek, editor of Classical Antiquity and the Classics and Contemporary Thought book series, makes Cicero''s influential ideas accessible to every reader. This edition also includes additional materials by Siobhán McElduff.

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Book SynopsisA.C. Bradley put Shakespeare on the map for generations of readers and students for whom the plays might not otherwise have become 'real' at all writes John Bayley in his foreword to this edition of Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.Approaching the tragedies as drama, wondering about their characters as he might have wondered about people in novels or in life, Bradley is one of the most liberating in the line of distinguished Shakespeare critics. His acute yet undogmatic and almost conversational critical method has—despite fluctuations in fashion—remained enduringly popular and influential. For, as John Bayley observes, these lectures give us a true and exhilarating sense of the tragedies joining up with life, with all our lives; leading us into a perspective of possibilities that stretch forward and back in time, and in our total awareness of things.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the

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Book SynopsisJonathan Bate''s Soul of the Age brings us closer than ever to understanding what being Shakespeare was actually like.How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly poet? How did Bottom''s dream rewrite the Bible? How did Shakespeare''s plays lead to the deaths of an earl and a king? And why was he the one dramatist of his generation never to be imprisoned?Weaving a dazzling tapestry of Elizabethan beliefs and obsessions, private passions and political intrigues, Soul of the Age leads us on an exhilarating tour of the extraordinary, colourful and often violent world that shaped and informed Shakespeare''s thinking. Written by one of the world''s leading experts, it combines almost everything there is to know about the man and his work in one sensational narrative.''Bate probably knows as much as any single person can know about Shakespeare ... Surprising, fresh, exhilarating, brilliant'', Guardian''Intensely enjoyable ... you find yourself gasping with pleasure'' John Carey, Sunday TimesJonathan Bate is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick, chief editor of The RSC Shakespeare: Complete Works and the author of many books, including most recently John Clare: A Biography, which won the Hawthornden Prize for Literature and the James Tait Black Prize for Biography. A Fellow of the British Academy, he was awarded a CBE in 2006.Trade Review'An excellent writer ! he achieves a resonant and complex portrait, constantly alert to new lines of enquiry and unexpected conclusions ... A triumph of precision, learning and intelligent innovation' - Charles Nicholl, Sunday Telegraph, Book of the Week 'Bate probably knows as much as any single person can know about Shakespeare ... Surprising, fresh, exhilarating, brilliant' - Richard Eyre, Guardian 'Wholehearted applause for Bate's portrayal of Shakespeare's world ... it is pure pleasure ... I defy any reader, no matter how saturated in Shakespeare, not to find something new here' Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisStanley Wells has devoted most of life to teaching, editing and writing about Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Honorary Governor Emeritus of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, he is also Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies of the University of Birmingham. He is General Editor of the Penguin and Oxford editions of Shakespeare and co-editor of the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. His recent account of Shakespeare and his after-life, Shakespeare For All Time, was described as the best book about Shakespeare for a generation.

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Book SynopsisIn Pop Goes the Weasel, Albert Jack explores the strange and fascinating histories behind the nursery rhymes we thought we knew, showing that their real meanings are far from innocent.Who were Mary Quite Contrary and Georgie Porgie? How could Hey Diddle Diddle offer an essential astronomy lesson? And if Ring a Ring a Roses isn''t about catching the plague, then what is it really about? This ingenious book delves into the hidden meanings of the nursery rhymes and songs we all know so well and discovers all kinds of strange tales ranging from Viking raids to firewalking and from political rebellion to slaves being smuggled to freedom.From the grim true story behind ''Oranges and Lemons'' to the deadly secrets of Mary Quite Contrary''s garden, and from how Lucy Locket lost more than her pocket to why Humpty Dumpty wasn''t egg-shaped at all, Pop Goes the Weasel is a compendium of surprising stories you won''t be able to resist passing on to everyone Trade ReviewAn irresistible treasure-trove ... The way these gossipy little rhymes give us a snapshot of everyday life in centuries gone by is enchanting. You'll never look at nursery rhymes again in the same way * Daily Mirror *The history behind nursery rhymes is not only highly specific but often splendidly grim. This book is a reminder of the riches below the surface: characters, jokes, events and stories * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe work of 21 poets is represented: including Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves, Ivor Gurney, Thomas Hardy, Charlotte Mew, Alice Meynell, Wilfred Owen, Herbert Read, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon and Edward Thomas.

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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 SynopsisA thrilling study of the greatest of all epic poems, by one of the world''s leading classicistsHomer''s Iliad is the famous epic poem set among the tales of Troy. Its subject is the anger of the hero Achilles and its dreadful consequences for the warring Greeks and Trojans. It was composed more than 2,600 years ago, but still transfixes us with its tale of loss and battle, love and revenge, guided throughout by the active presence of the gods. Its beauty and profound bleakness are intensely moving but great questions remain: where, how and when it was composed and why it has such enduring power?In this compelling book Robin Lane Fox addresses these questions, drawing on a life-long love and engagement with the poem. He argues for a place, a date and a method for its composition, giving us a sense of alternative approaches and grounding his own in discoveries about long heroic poems composed elsewhere in the world, and the ever-growing evidence of archaeology.Unlike other books on the Iliad, this one combines the detailed expertise of a historian with the sensitivity of a teacher of it as poetry. Lane Fox goes on to consider hallmarks of the poem, its values, implicit and explicit, its characters, its women, its gods and even its horses. He argues repeatedly for its beautiful observation and addresses its parallel use of what is, to us, the natural world. Thousands of readers turn to the Iliad every year. In this superbly written and conceived tribute, Lane Fox expresses and amplifies what old and new readers can find in it. It is pervaded, he argues, by a poignant hardness which is not just a poetic trick. It is a deeply held view of the world.

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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

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Book SynopsisThis book is intended to capture the interest of anyone who has been attracted to Russian culture through the greats of Russian literature, either through the texts themselves, or encountering them in the cinema, or opera.Rather than a conventional chronology of Russian literature, the book will explore the place and importance of literature of all sorts in Russian culture. How and when did a Russian national literature come into being? What shaped its creation? How have the Russians regarded their literary language? The book will uses the figure of Pushkin, ''the Russian Shakespeare'' as a recurring example as his work influenced every Russian writer who came after hime, whether poets or novelists. It will look at such questions as why Russian writers are venerated, how they''ve been interpreted inside Russia and beyond, and the influences of such things as the folk tale tradition, orthodox religion, and the West 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.Trade ReviewIt is written in a lively and stimulating manner...and displays a range to which few of Dr. Kelly's peers in the field of Russian scholarship are equal.' * Dr Philip Cavendish *This is a brilliant essay, written with elegance, informed, incisive, provocative...[Dr Kelly] is in the forefront of scholars of Russian literature...she will make her readers engage with a wide variety of authors and texts. * Professor Anthony Cross, head of Slavonic Studies Department, Cambridge University *It seems to me brilliant and original, taking an unexpected approach to the subject, and it is written with great confidence and clarity. * Professor Peter France, University of Edinburgh *Table of ContentsPREFACE; LIST OF FURTHER READING

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Book Synopsis''Times and their reasons, arranged in order through the Latin year, and constellations sunk beneath the earth and risen, I shall sing.''Ovid''s poetical calendar of the Roman year is both a day by day account of festivals and observances and their origins, and a delightful retelling of myths and legends associated with particular dates. Written in the late years of the emperor Augustus, and cut short when the emperor sent the poet into exile, the poem''s tone ranges from tragedy to farce, and its subject matter from astronomy and obscure ritual to Roman history and Greek mythology. Among the stories Ovid tells at length are those of Arion and the dolphin, the rape of Lucretia, the shield that fell from heaven, the adventures of Dido''s sister, the Great Mother''s journey to Rome, the killing of Remus, the bloodsucking birds, and the murderous daughter of King Servius. The poem also relates a wealth of customs and beliefs, such as the unluckiness of marrying in May.This new prose transTrade ReviewReview from previous edition 'a thorough and meticulous work, distinguished by accuracy and fidelity to the Latin, and it will surely suit the serious Latinless reader who desires a reliable guide to this challenging and remarkable poem' * Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2012.04.36 *

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford ShakespeareGeneral Editor: Stanley WellsThe Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers.- A new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings- Wide-ranging introduction explores the lyrical language with which Shakespeare dramatizes competing kinds of love- Detailed performance history designed to meet the needs of theatre professionals- On-page commentary and notes explain language, word-play, and staging- the only edition to provide a setting of the song ''Who is Silvia?'' , taken from an Elizabethan source- Illustrated with production photographs and related art- Full index to introduction and commentary- Durable sewn binding for lasting use''not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare'' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each afforTrade ReviewRoger Warren's edition of the play in the excellent Oxford series is emphatically performance-orientated throughout. * Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, InspiringAnthony Trollope is among the best-loved novelists in the English language. His strongly drawn characters and skilful plots are compelling, while his moral judgements are often subtly challenging. He is an entertainer, but his power to make his readers think, and to feel, is unrivalled.This Very Short Introduction will place Trollope''s work in the context of his life and times, drawing on recent scholarship to illuminate his central interests and literary strategies. Readers will find a focussed critical guide to his writing, that will direct and inform their reading. The major series of novels (the six novels located in the fictional Barsetshire, and the six Palliser novels) are explored alongside the novels set in Ireland, his travel writing, and examples of his less well-known fiction. Trollope''s work is energised by the complexities of the Victorian Britain, with its political tensions, its troubled views of the relation between men and women, its expanding place in the wider world, and its growing discomfort with the contradictions created by a corrosive preoccupation with wealth and display. But Trollope''s writing is of more than historical interest. His insight into the motives of human behaviour (emotion, money, sex, and power), and of the conflict between the need for reform and the wish to defend what might be destroyed by the relentless pressure for change, feels surprisingly modern. Birch shows how his writing has retained its vivid appeal to new generations of readers. 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.

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Book SynopsisA witty, refreshing, and fun book on the experience of reading Marcel Proust that allows author and reader to meet and perhaps quarrel, perhaps agree, to go wherever their collaboration leads them, with language itself acting as a conduit.Table of ContentsPreface 1: Impossible Music 2: That Evening 3: Dreyfus Time 4: The Scenery of the Event 5: Profound Albertine 6: Proust's Law School 7: After the Ball

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Book SynopsisDickens's first concern in all his fiction is with people's feelings and their imaginations. This book takes a personal approach to Dickens's art, paying attention to what magnetizes Federico or strikes her as newly relevant to our own world, and to her life, as she explores what Dickens' works are emotionally about.Trade Review... an illuminating perspective on the selected texts-a perspective that incidentally sheds light on how Dickens achieves his intimate and powerful impact. * John Edmondson, Independent Researcher, British Association for Victorian Studies *... I absolutely loved this book; I think very highly of Dickens anyway, and to see his work explored like this was fascinating... If "But for you…" is any indication, the My Reading series is going to be a winner... If you want a personal, thought-provoking and fascinating look at Dickens and the effect he can have on the reader, this is definitely a book for you! * Shiny New Books *Table of ContentsPreface 1: Where is Love? 2: Blessed Little Room 33: The Shadow Fell Like Light 4: But For You, Dear Stranger Works Cited

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Book SynopsisThe late-eighteenth century witnessed multiple Medeas take to the stages of Europe, in the Americas, and across the Russian empire. Performances took place in Moscow and São Paulo, in London and Lisbon, in Gotha, Stuttgart, and Venice. This lively collection of essays examines the various reasons why Medea, the ancient mother who killed her own children, attracted the attention of authors, audiences, actors, and rulers in Europe and its dominions during the pivotal period 1750 to 1800, and to what effects. As a migrant and iconoclast, Medea crosses a number of eighteenth-century borders: linguistic, cultural, national, temporal, spatial, aesthetic, ethical, and generic. Moreover, the fact that late-eighteenth-century playwrights, poets, composers, and choreographers all turned to one of the most problematic characters of Greco-Roman antiquity offers a unique opportunity to examine the remarkable flexibility of the reception process itself. Medea therefore functions as an intriguing case study, reflecting a wider context of cultural and political change within Europe and its colonies in the late-eighteenth century. By drawing together eighteenth-century specialists working across multiple languages and disciplines with the reception perspective of classical scholars, this volume brings much rare material from a range of archives across continental Europe to critical attention for the first time. Mapping Medea shows how the eighteenth century made Medea modern, and Medea helped to shape modern performance.Table of Contents1: Anna Albrektson and Fiona Macintosh: Mapping Medea: Revolutions and Transfers 1750-1800 I: Medea in an Expanding Eighteenth-Century World 2: Edith Hall: Pushing the Boundaries of Operatic Convention and European Identity: Generic and Historical Perspectives on Georg Benda's 1775 Medea 3: Larisa Nikiforova: Medea's Russian Images on Stage and in Literature: The Politics and Poetics of Female Characters 4: Anthony John Lappin: An Imperial Medea: Spain, Portugal, the Colonies 5: Anna Albrektson: Inverting the Barbarian: Estrangement and Excess in the Eighteenth-Century Medea II: Local Interpretations and Global Issues: Ontology and Form 6: Fiona Macintosh: From Hearth to Hades: Breaking Boundaries with Medea and ballet d'action 7: Jörg Krämer: Shaping Complexity: Medea in the German-Language Theatre of the Eighteenth Century 8: Petra Dotla%cilová: Visual Narrative: The Role of Costumes in Noverre's ballet d'action, Médée et Jason 9: Zoé Schweitzer: Medea as Infanticidal Mother in the Late Eighteenth-Century Theatre 10: Roland Lysell: Medea--Sorceress or Woman? c.1750 and Beyond Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, contains some of the finest literature that we have. This biblical literature has a place not only in the synagogue or the church but also among the classics of world literature. The stories of Jacob and David, for instance, present the earliest surviving examples of literary characters whose development the reader follows over the length of a lifetime. Elsewhere, as in the books of Esther or Ruth, readers find a snapshot of a particular, fraught moment that will define the character. The Hebrew Bible also provides quite a few high points of lyric poetry, from the praise and lament of the Psalms to the double entendres in the love of poetry of the Song of Songs. In short, the Bible can be celebrated not only as religious literature but, quite simply, as literature. This book offers a thorough and lively introduction to the Bible''s two primary literary modes, narrative and poetry, foregrounding the nuances of plot, character, metaphor, structure and design, and intertextual allusions. Tod Linafelt thus gives readers the tools to fully experience and appreciate the Hebrew Bible''s literary achievement.Trade ReviewLinafelt synthesizes a good deal of scholarly research in an accessible fashion and provides the lay reader with a helpful introduction to reading the narrative and poetic texts of the Hebrew Bible. * Kevin Scott, Reading Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Biblical literature and the Western literary tradition ; 2. Reading biblical narrative ; 3. Reading biblical poetry ; 4. Narrative and poetry working together ; 5. Connections between texts

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Book SynopsisEasy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular A Level set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characterisation and role, genre, context, language, themes, structure and critical views, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work wtih the text. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent AS/A level specifications.

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Book SynopsisPacked with extra features, this intermediate-level dictionary is designed specifically to fit the needs of today's student. Compact and practical, it covers over 45,000 words and phrases, and includes a guide to Latin grammar, extra notes on difficult words and constructions, and useful appendices on topics such as money, weights and measures. This major new edition replaces ISBN 0-19-860283-9.

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Book Synopsis''That was how things stood in the city at the time. With no one in charge, murders were taking place almost every day and the elections could not be held.''Books 36-40 of the Roman History by Cassius Dio (born ca. 163 CE), covers 69-50 BCE, the last twenty years before the Roman Republic collapsed in a long series of civil wars, leading to the monarchy of the emperors. Although Dio''s history was written over 250 years later, it provides the fullest surviving account of this crucial period in Roman history and is a key source of information on many of the chief developments. Dio fashions his account of these years to foreshadow the coming civil war, exposing the violence and corruption of the political life of the time, and portraying the gradual eclipse of the great general Pompey by his younger rival Caesar.Robin Waterfield''s lively and up-to-date translation is accompanied by an introduction by John Rich, which sets Dio''s work in its context and explores both literary and historiTable of ContentsIntroduction Translator's Note Select Bibliography Structure A Chronology of Events ROMAN HISTORY, BOOKS THIRTY-SIX TO FORTY Appendix: Roman Names; Roman Money and Measures of Distance; The Roman Calendar Explanatory Notes Glossary Index of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisBased on his experiences as a policeman in Burma, George Orwell's first novel is set during the end days of British colonialism, when Burma is ruled from Delhi as part of British India.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography Chronology Burmese Days Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisThe Alexandra, attributed to Lykophron is a minor poetic masterpiece. At 1474 lines, it is one of the most important and notoriously difficult Greek poems dating from the Hellenistic period.Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Note on the text and translation Select Bibliography Timeline Synopsis of the Poem Introduction THE ALEXANDRA OF LYKOPHRON Explanatory notes Index

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Book SynopsisSerial Forms: The Unfinished Project of Modernity, 18151848 proposes an entirely new way of reading the transition into the modern. It is the first book in a series of three which will take the reader up to the end of the First World War, moving from a focus on London to a global perspective. Serial Forms sets out the theoretical and historical basis for all three volumes. It suggests that, as a serial news culture and a stadial historicism developed together between 1815 and 1848, seriality became the dominant form of the nineteenth century. Through serial newsprint, illustrations, performances, and shows, the past and the contemporary moment enter into public visibility together. Serial Forms argues that it is through seriality that the social is represented as increasingly politically urgent. The insistent rhythm of the serial reorganizes time, recalibrates and rescales the social, and will prepare the way for the 1848 revolutions which are the subject of the next book. By placing their work back into the messy print and performance culture from which it originally appeared, Serial Forms is able to produce new and exciting readings of familiar authors such as Scott, Byron, Dickens, and Gaskell. Rather than offering a rarefied intellectual history or chopping up the period into Romantic' and Victorian', Clare Pettitt tracks the development of communications technologies and their impact on the ways in which time, history and virtuality are imagined.Trade ReviewIt is a valuable and original investigation of noncanonical serials in the early nineteenth century. It is also a significant contribution to the conversation about form, time, and politics that extends beyond seriality studies. * Robyn Warhol's, MLQ: A Journal of Literary History *This is both an exciting and a weighty book. It joins extensive archival knowledge with sharp theoretical insight to throw a new light on the emergence of the modern subject ... I am eager for the next installment. * Caroline Levine, Modern Philology *Pettitt expertly weaves together various strands to show how the growing infiltration of seriality into every aspect of culture forms 'the dynamic processes involved in calibrating a new form of social time'. [...] Serial Forms is a rich, textured study, and there are many byways of the argument not touched upon here that readers will find useful. * David E. Latané, Victorian Periodicals Review *In Pettitt's hands, serialization becomes not simply a subject for literary discussion, but is interpreted as a significant cultural movement which informed, and was informed by, the politics and people of the time. The result is an insightful and inspiring collection of chapters that broadens our knowledge of the subject and—appropriately in the spirit of serialization—whets our appetite for the next two books to follow. * Pete Orford, Dickens Quarterly *With its thrilling combination of small details and big insights, this book should attract a readership as wide and grateful as that achieved by Linda Hughes and Michael Lund's The Victorian Serial... I, for one, am eager for the next installment. * Matthew Poland, review19 *The greatest strength of the book is its meticulous research of periodicals,...Serial Forms offers a refreshingly material engagement with affect studies. * William Lee Hughes, Victorian Studies Vol 64.4 *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Serial Forms 1: Yesterday's News 2: Scott Unbound 3: Live Byron 4: Vesuvius on the Strand 5: Scalar: Pugin, Carlyle, Dickens 6: History in Miniature 7: Biopolitics of Seriality Conclusion: 1848 and Serial Revolutions

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Book SynopsisThis selection, chosen from the Oxford Authors critical edition, includes Wordsworth's finest verse, and a large sample of The Prelude, his extraordinary autobiographical poem in blank verse and the first truly great achievement of a new era in English poetry.Trade Reviewremarkable value ... introduction, notes and all * Oxford Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford ShakespeareGeneral Editor: Stanley WellsThe Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers- A new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings- On-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, language, and allusions- Detailed introduction provides a full account of the play''s performance history and explores issues of gender, gift-theory, and ecology- Appendices include source materials and a chronology of major productions worldwide- Illustrated with production photographs and related art- Full index to introduction and commentary- Durable sewn binding for lasting use''not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship.''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 volTrade Review...highly recommended * Dieter Mehl, Archiv *

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