ELT & Literary Studies Books

Book SynopsisThe Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory is the most comprehensive collection of poetry from the period ever published. Included are generous selections from the work of all major poets, and a representation of the work of virtually every poet of significance, from Thomas Ashe at the beginning of the era to Charlotte Mew at its end. The work of Victorian women poets features very prominently, with extensive selections not only from canonical poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti, but also from poets such as Augusta Webster for which high claims have recently been made by critics. The anthology reflects (and will contribute to) the ongoing reassessment of the canon that is central to English Studies today; in all, sixty-six poets are represented.The editors have included complete works wherever feasible — including the complete texts of Tennyson’s In Memoriam and of a number of other long poems. A headnote by the editors introduces the work of each poet, and each selection has been newly annotated.The inclusion of twenty-five selections of the poetic theory from the period is an important feature rounding out the anthology.This anthology is also available in a concise edition.Trade Review“What we have needed has been the Victorian poetic texts, by many writers—and here they are, splendidly assembled! Thank you.” — William N. Rogers, San Diego State University“I’m excited about the appearance of this comprehensive anthology—especially about its inclusion of so many full-text long poems.” — Peter W. Sinnema, University of Alberta“A long overdue collection that balances representative and canonical works with traditionally under-represented ones.” — Barbara Gates, University of DelawareTable of ContentsPOETRYAnonymousA New Song on the Birth of the Prince of WalesAshe, Thomas (1770-1835)Corpse-BearingTo Two BereavedLandor, Walter Savage (1775-1864)For An Epitaph At FiesoleIanthe LeavesDying Speech of an Old PhilosopherDeath’s LanguageHer NameA Foreign RulerClare, John (1793-1864)“I Am”An Invite to EternityThe Old YearThe YellowhammerSonnet: “I Am”Stanzas “The passing of a dream”“There is a charm in Solitude that cheers”Stanzas “Black absence hides upon the past”The Winters SpringAn Anecdote of LoveTo Miss B.“The thunder mutters louder…”Hemans, Felicia (1793-1835)The Suloite MotherThe Lady of The CastleTo WordsworthCasabianca Properzia RossiThe Memorial PillarThe Grave of a PoetessThe Image In LavaThe Indian With His Dead ChildThe Rock of Cader IdrisHenry, James“Two hundred men and eighteen killed … ”Hood, Thomas (1799-1845)The Song of the ShirtBarnes, William (1801-1886)Uncle an’ AuntPolly Be-En Upzides Wi’ TomThe Vaïces that Be GoneChildhoodThe TurnstileJay A-Pass’dLandon, Letitia .E. (1802-1838) from The Improvisatrice AdvertisementSappho’s Song Erinna“Preface” to The Venetian Bracelet, The Lost Pleiad, A History of the Lyre, and Other PoemsThe Nameless GraveThe FactoryCarthageFelicia HemansRydal Water and Grasmere LakeInfanticide in Madagascar R.E. Egerton Warburton (1804-1891)Past and PresentElizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) The Romaunt of the PageLady Geraldine’s CourtshipThe Dead PanThe Cry of the ChildrenA Man’s RequirementsSonnets From the Portuguese IIIXXIIXXIXXLIII The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s PointAurora Leigh 1st Book2nd Book5th Book A Curse for a Nation (Prologue)A Musical Instrument Frederick Tennyson (1807-1898)Old AgeCaroline Norton (1808-1877)from Voice From the FactoriesThe Creole GirlThe Poet’s ChoiceSonnet IVSonnet VIII (To My Books)Sonnet XI The WeaverEdward FitzgeraldRubáiyát of Omar KhayyámTennyson, Alfred (1809-1892)MarianaSupposed Confessions of a Second-Rate Sensitive MindThe PoetThe Poet’s MindThe MysticThe KrakenThe Lady of ShalottTo ——. With the following Poem [Palace of Art]The Palace of ArtThe HesperidesThe Lotos-Eaters (107)The Two VoicesSt Simeon StylitesUlyssesTiresiasThe Epic [Morte d’Arthur]Morte d’Arthur“Break, break, break”Locksley HallThe Vision of SinIn Memoriam A.H.H. (33)The Charge of the Light BrigadeMaudTithonusThe Higher Pantheism“Flower in the crannied wall”Crossing the BarIdylls of the KingThe Coming of ArthurLancelot and ElaineBrowning, Robert (1812-1889) My Last DuchessSoliloquy of the Spanish CloisterJohannes Agricola in MeditationPorphyria’s LoverPictor Ignotusthe Lost LeaderThe Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s ChurchThe LaboratoryLove Among the RuinsFra Lippo LippiA Toccata of Galuppi’sBy the Fire-SideAn Epistle Containing the Strange Medical Experience of Karshish, the Arab Physician”Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”The Statue and the BustHow It Strikes a ContemporaryThe Last Ride TogetherBishop Blougram’s ApologyAndrea del SartoOld Pictures in FlorenceIn a BalconySaulCleonTwo in the CampagnaA Grammarian’s FuneralDîs Aliter Visum or Le Byron de Nos JoursAbt VoglerRabbi Ben EzraCaliban Upon Setebos; or, Natural Theology in the IslandThe Ring and the BookThe Ring and the Book: Book I Count Guido Franceschini: Book VPompilia: Book VIGuido: Book XI Prologue (to Asolando)Development Lear, Edward (1812-1888)The Owl and the PussycatThe Dong with a Luminous NoseHow Pleasant to Know Mr. LearBrontë, Charlotte (1816-1855)The MissionaryMaster and PupilOn the Death of Emily Jane BrontëOn the Death of Anne BrontëReason“The house was still—the room was still”The Lonely Lady"Is this my tomb, this humble stone”"Obscure and little seem my way”Brontë, Emily Jane (1818-1848)“Riches I hold in light esteem”To ImaginationPlead For MeRemembranceThe Prisoner“No coward soul is mine”Stanzas—“Often rebuked, yet always back returning”A Farewell to Alexandria“Long neglect has worn away”“The night is darkening round me”“What winter floods, what showers of spring”“She dried her tears, and they did smile”Cook, Eliza (1818-1889)LinesThe WatersThe Ploughshare of Old EnglandThe Old Arm-ChairSong of the Red IndianSong of The Ugly MaidenMy Old Straw HatLines Written for the Sheffield Mechanics Exhibition, 1846A Song For The WorkersMy Ladye LoveClough, Arthur Hugh (1819-1861)Duty—that’s to say complyingQui Laborat, OratThe Latest Decalogue“Say not the struggle nought availeth”Amours de VoyageEliot, George (1819-1880) “O, May I Join the Choir Invisible”The Spanish Gypsy Book IBook III ArmgartBrother and Sister Sonnets IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIXX Brontë, Anne (1820-1849)A Fragment—“Maiden, thou wert thoughtless once”Lines Written at Thorp Green“My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring”A Word to the CalvinistsThe Captive DoveViews of LifeSelf-CommunionThe BluebellDreamsA Voice from the DungeonIngelow, Jean (1820-1897)Supper At The MillRemonstranceA Lily And A LuteGladys And Her IslandOn The Borders of Cannock ChaseGreenwell, Dora (1821-1882)The SingerThe Railway StationThe Picture and the ScrollThe Broken ChainOld LettersTo Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1851To Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1861One FlowerA ScherzoA Song to Call to RemembranceSperanza (Lady Wilde) (1821?-1896)The Voice of the PoorA RemonstranceA Lament For the PotatoFatalityCorinne’s Last Love-SongTristan and IsoldeThe Poet’s DestinyAn Appeal to IrelandArnold, Matthew (1822-1888)To a Gipsy Child by the Sea-ShoreThe Strayed RevellerResignationThe Forsaken MermanTo Marguerite—ContinuedStanzas in Memory of the Author of “Obermann”Empedocles on EtnaMemorial VersesDover BeachThe Buried LifeStanzas from the Grande ChartreuseThe Scholar-GipsyPhilomelaThyrsisPatmore, Coventry (1823-1896)The ToysMagna est VeritasThe Angel in the HouseAllingham, William (1824-1889)The Fairies“Four Ducks on a Pond”WritingExpressDobell, Sydney (1824-1874)The Botanist’s VisionTo the Authoress of “Aurora Leigh”PerhapsTwo Sonnets on the Death of Prince AlbertMacDonald, George (1824-1905)Professor NoctutusNo End of No-StoryProcter, Adelaide Anne (1825-1864)The Cradle Song of the PoorIncompletenessMy Picture GalleryAn AppealThe Jubilee of 1850HomelessA Woman’s QuestionA Woman’s AnswerA Woman’s Last WordEnvyA Legend of ProvencePhilip and MildredCollins, MortimerLotos EatingBigg, J. Stantyon (1828-1865)An Irish PictureMassey, Gerald (1828-1907)Hope On, Hope EverThe Cry of the UnemployedA Song in the City“As proper mode of quenching legal lust…”WomankindMeredith, George (1838-1909)Modern LoveLucifer in StarlightRossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882) The Blessed DamozelMy Sister’s SleepJennyThe PortraitThe WoodspurgeThe Ballad of Dead LadiesA Last ConfessionThe Sea-LimitsFoundAt the Sunrise in 1848The House of Life: A Sonnet Sequence “A Sonnet is a moment’s monument,—”Nuptial SleepThe PortraitSilent NoonWillowwoodThe Soul’s SphereThe LandmarkAutumn IdlenessThe Hill SummitOld and New ArtSoul’s BeautyBody’s BeautyA SuperscriptionThe One Hope Munby, Arthur (1828-1910)The Serving MaidPost MortemA Husband’s EpisodesT’ Runawaa Lass“Followers Not Allowed”Woman’s RightsSiddal, Elizabeth (1829-1862)The Lust of the EyesWorn OutAt LastLove and HateBrown, T.E. (1830-1870)A Sermon at ClevedonRossetti, Christina (1830-1894)Goblin MarketA BirthdayAfter DeathAn Apple GatheringEcho“No, Thank you, John”SongUphillA Better Resurrection“The Iniquity of the Fathers Upon the Children”Monna Innominata 1 - 14“For Thine Own Sake, O My God”In an Artist’s StudioCarroll, Lewis (1832-1898)JabberwockyThe Walrus and the CarpenterThe Hunting of the SnarkMorris, William (1834-1896)The Defence of GuinevereThe Haystack in the FloodsRiding TogetherNear AvalonAn ApologyA Garden by the SeaThe End of MayThomson, James (1834-1882)The City of Dreadful NightE.B.B. 1861A Real Vision of SinWarren, John Leicester (Lord de Tabley) (1835-1895)The Strange ParableA Song of Faith ForswornEchoes of HellasL’EnvoiConclusionBraddon, Mary Elizabeth (1837-1915)Queen GuinevereAt LastWaitingUnder GroundWakingSwinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909)Atalanta in CalydonLaus VenerisThe Triumph of TimeItylusAnactoriaHymn to ProserpineThe LeperDoloresThe Garden of ProserpineHerthaA Forsaken GardenAt A Month’s EndAve Atque ValeA Jacobite’s FarewellThe Lake of GaubeWebster, Augusta (1837-1894) CirceA CastawayMother and Daughter Sonnets Sonnet VI - VIISonnet IXSonnet XIISonnet XIII - XVII The Wind’s Tidings In August 1870To-DayHer MemoriesA Coarse MorningNot To BeOnceThe Old Dream Hardy, Thomas (1840-1928)HapNeutral TonesA Broken AppointmentThe Darkling ThrushThe Self-UnseeingIn TenebrisThe Minute Before MeetingNight in the Old HomeThe Something that Saved HimAfterwardsA Young Man’s ExhortationSnow in the SuburbsIn a WoodDowden, Edward (1843-1913)BurdensLeonardo’s “Monna Lisa”EuropaSeeking GodIn a June NightBridges, Robert (1844-1930)London SnowOn a Dead ChildHopkins, Gerard Manley (1844-1899)The Wreck of the DeutschlandGod’s GrandeurThe WindhoverPied BeautyHarrahing in HarvestThe Caged SkylarkPeaceFelix Randal“As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame”The Leaden Echo and the Golden EchoSpelt from Sibyl’s LeavesCarrion Comfort“No worst, there is none”“To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life”“I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day”“Patience, hard thing! the hard thing but to pray”“My own heart let me more have pity on”Tom’s GarlandHarry PloughmanIt was a hard thing to undo this knotLee-Hamilton, Eugene (1845-1907) The Keys of the ConventIntroduction (Picciola)The New MedusaThe RaftTo the MuseRiver BabbleTwilightWhat the Sonnet IsSunken GoldThe Ever Young IIIIII The Mandolin Field, MichaelPrefaceDrawing of Roses and VioletsLa GiocondaThe Birth of VenusA PortraitA “Sant’ Imagine”The MagdalenA Pen-Drawing of Leda“Death, men say, is like a sea”“Ah, Eros doth not always smite”“Sometimes I do despatch my heart”An Apple-Flower“Solitary Death, make me thine own”“A curling thread”A Spring Morning By the SeaLove’rsquo;s Sour Leisure“It was deep April, and the morn”NoonAn Aeolian HarpCyclamensMeynell, Alice (1847-1922) A Letter from a Girl to Her Own Old AgeIn February A Poet’s Fancies The Love of NarcissusTo Any PoetUnlikned The ShepherdessParentageCradle-Song at TwilightIn Manchester SquareMaternityA Study Before LightAbout NoonAt Twilight A Father of WomenThe Threshing MachineReflections (I) In Ireland(II) In “Othello”(III) In Two Poets Dolben, Digby Mackworth (1848-1867)A SongA Poem Without A NameAfter Reading AeschylusGood FridaySister DeathPro CastitateHenley, William Ernest (1849-1903)WaitingMallock, William H. (1849-1923)Christmas Thoughts, by a Modern ThinkerStevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894)Bed in SummerTravelThe Land of CounterpaneThe Land of Story-booksRequiemThe Celestial Surgeon“I have trod the upward and the downward slope”“So live, so love, so use that fragile hour”“I saw red evening through the rain”Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) RequiescatHélas!Impressionsle jardinla mer Symphony in Yellow Davidson, John (1857-1909)Thirty Bob a WeekA Ballad of a NunA Ballad in Blank VerseA Northern SuburbA Woman and Her SonYuletideRobinson, A. Mary F. (1857-1944)The Scape-GoatThe IdeaDarwinismAn Orchard at AvignonLove, Death, and ArtArt and LifeSongNeurastheniaTo My MuseStephen, J.K. (1859-1907)In the BacksThompson, Francis (1859-1907)The Hound of HeavenColeridge, Mary (1861-1907)IX — The Other Side Of A MirrorXIV — ReginaXXVII — Winged WordsLX — MarriageLXIII — In Dispraise of the MoonLXXVI — The White WomenXCVII — The Fire LampCXIV — To the writer of a poem on a bridgeCXCI — Tar Ublia Chi Bien EimaCCVI — A Clever WomanLevy, Amy (1861-1889)XantippeFelo De SeTo a Dead PoetA Minor PoetMagdalenA London Plane-TreeLondon PoetsOn The ThresholdIn The Black ForestTo Vernon LeeTo E.Kipling, Rudyard (1865-1889)Gentlemen-RankersIn the Neolithic AgeRecessionalThe White Man’s BurdenIfGray, JohnThe BarberPoemDowson, Ernest (1867-1900)Nuns of the Perpetual AdorationNon Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno CynaraeVillanelle of SunsetTo One in BedlamBenedictio DominiAd Manus PuellaeTerre PromiseSpleenVitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longamJohnson, Lionel (1867-1902)The Dark AngelSummer StormDeadThe EndNihilismThe DarknessIn a WorkhouseBagley WoodThe Destroyer of a SoulThe Precept of SilenceA ProselyteMew, Charlotte (1869-1909) The Farmer’s BrideThe FêteIn Nunhead CemeteryKenMadeleine In ChurchThe Road To KérityI Have Been Through The GatesThe CenotaphV. R. I. i. January 22nd, 1901ii. January 2nd, 1901 POETIC THEORYFox, William Johnson (1786-1864)Tennyson — Poems, Chiefly Lyrical — 1830 Pub. 1831Hallam, Arthur Henry (1811-1833)On some of the Characteristics of Modern Poetry and on the Lyrical Poems of Alfred Tennyson Pub. 1831Landon, Letitia E. (1802-1838)On the Ancient and Modern Influence of Poetry Pub. 1832Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873)“What is poetry?”“Two kinds of poetry” Pub. January and October 1833Taylor, Sir Henry (1800-1886)Preface to Philip Van Artevelde Pub. 1834Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882)Hand and Soul Pub. 1850Browning, Robert (1812-1889)An Essay on Percy Bysshe Shelley Pub. 1851Clough, Arthur HughRecent English Poetry: A Review of Several Volumes of Poems by Alexander Smith, Mathew Arnold, and othersArnold, Matthew (1822-1888)Preface to the 1853 Edition of Poems Pub. 1853Massey, Gerald (1828-1907)Preface to the Third Edition of Babe Christabel Pub. 1854Ruskin, John (1819-1900)Of the Pathetic Fallacy Pub. 1856Arnold, Matthew (1822-1888)The Function of Criticism at the Present Time Pub. 1864Bagehot, Walter (1826-1877)Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning; or, Pure, Ornate, and Grotesque Art in English Poetry Pub. 1864Morley, JohnMr. Swinburne’s New Poems: Poems and BallardsDallas, Eneas Sweetland (1828-1879)The Secrecy of Art Pub. 1888Buchanan, Robert (1841-1901)The Fleshly School of Poetry: Mr. D.G. Rossetti Pub. 1871Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882)The Stealthy School Of Criticism Pub. 1871Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909)Under The Microscope Pub. 1872Pater, Walter (1839-1890)Preface to The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry Pub. 1873Hopkins, Gerard Manley (1844-1889)Author’s Preface Pub. 1883Levy, AmyJames Thompson: A Minor PoetWhistler, James McNeill (1834-1903)Ten O’Clock Pub. 1890Morris, WilliamOf the Origins of Ornamental ArtWilde, Oscar (1854-1900)The Critic as Artist Pub. 1890Symons, Arthur (1865-1945)The Decadent Movement in Literature Pub. 1893The Symbolist Movement In Literature Pub. 1899Meynell, AliceTennysonRobert BrowningThe Rhythm of LifeRobins, ElizabethWoman’s SecretHardy, Thomas (1840-1928)Apology Pub. 1922INDEXESIndex of First LinesIndex of Authors and Titles

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Book SynopsisWith the arrival of eligible young men in their neighbourhood, the lives of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are turned inside out. Pride encounters prejudice, upward-mobility confronts social disdain, and quick-wittedness challenges sagacity, as misconceptions and hasty judgements lead to heartache and scandal.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice Volume I Volume II Volume III Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisEven though Charlotte Bronte uses fictional names, it is possible to roughly locate the places she so vividly describes in her beloved novel from 1847. This illustrated map shows the places Jane Eyre visits and it also features an illustrated map of the novel's main characters.?Contains an illustrated map, not the full text. A3-format, folded to A6-format. Printed on recycled paper.

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Book Synopsis1000 PIECE PUZZLE: This 1000-piece puzzle  features Shakespeare's London in glorious detail.CAST OF CHARACTERS: Spot famous characters, fellow writers and historical characters as you build the puzzle.INCLUDES PULL-OUT POSTER: Includes educational poster with fun facts about Shakespeare and his works.  Piece together the world of Shakespeare in this art jigsaw puzzle depicting the London of his day. Spot a huge cast of contemporary extras as A Midsummer Night's Dream is rehearsed at the Globe and fellow actors wander the streets, along with local characters who may well have provided the Bard with inspiration. From lovers ascending ladders and bears being baited to tavern brawls and summer fetes, there is something to delight in every detail. Laurence King Publishing's ‘The World Of…’ jigsaws are a fun way of celebrating the lives and works of creative greats. Also available in

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Book SynopsisWhen an essay is due and dreaded exams loom, this book offers students what they need to succeed. It provides chapter-by-chapter analysis, explanations of key themes, motifs and symbols, a review quiz, and essay topics. It is suitable for late-night studying and paper writing.

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Book SynopsisThe next raid overseen by the Hunters Association brings together the survivors of thedouble dungeon incident for the first time since the tragedy. Fortunately, this next raidshould be fairly cut-and-dry—but sometimes, the most terrifying beasts aren’t the onesfound in dungeons...

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Book SynopsisRembrandt Is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey is part art history, part biblical study, part philosophy, and part analysis of the human experience; but it's all story. An invitation to discover some of the world’s most celebrated artists and works, it presents the beauty of the gospel in a way that speaks to our most common struggles and longings.Trade Review'Art and the act of creating is essential. We must remember that without it, we would not be here. To notice beauty is to be fully alive and without the act of intimately engaging life, we are numb to ourselves and to the world around us. Ramsey points us towards God through the raw, sensual power of the art, disrupting our unconscious lives that often want to grasp for whatever makes us un-feel.' * Wayne Brezinka, award-winning artist and illustrator *'Encountering paintings drawings and sculpture as a little boy set me up for my life arc. Encountering Christ set me up for a lifelong love affair with my creator. Russ has gone to great lengths to examine art and faith in a way that helps us define our path forward. Art making is sometimes a lonely experience relying on one's own imagination and talent. This book illustrates the tight wire one must balance on to find the peace and beauty in expression. It's often difficult to maintain balance with all life offers is pulling on us. Rembrandt in the wind helps us find a way forward by the examples and stories of art makers who have gone before us.' * Jimmy Abegg, visual artist and musician with Rich Mullins and the Ragamuffin Band, Charlie Peacock, and Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil *'Here's what I love about Russ Ramsey's latest project--it understands down deep that Truth is exclusive to no party or sect; that Goodness arrives in the form of the lonely, the ill, and the outcast; and that Beauty, amid the church's moral twilight, might be the last apologetic that holds.' * Leif Enger, Bestselling Author of Virgil Wander and Peace Like A River *'In days fractured by those who aim to seize power, darkened by those who play dirty politics, and clouded by those who use platforms to polarize, perhaps the artists can lead us home. The artists featured in these pages, artists who devoted their life and work to what is good, true, and beautiful, remind us that we can--and should--do the same.' * Karen Swallow Prior, Research Professor of English and Christianity & Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books *'It is easy to believe that enjoying and understanding 'Art' is only for those who have a PhD in Art History. Russ Ramsey reminds us how simple and holy it is to be stirred by the mystery of images.' * John Hendrix, author/illustrator of The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler *'Ramsey is a deep lover of art and a student of art history. In this book he takes the reader on an amazing guided tour through an art museum that doesn't exist. In this carefully curated collection of art from around the world, he offers you an experience that only someone who really loves art can. This book inspires the reader to engage art in an eye-opening way and understand how these famous works of art bring glory to God.' * Ned Bustard, is the illustrator of the Every Moment Holy series, Creative Director of Square Halo Books, and the artist and author of History of Art: Creation through Contemporary *'Ramsey leads us well into one of the best possible uses of our time--engaging with art and beauty.' * Mark Maggiori is an award-winning painter of the American West *'Russ Ramsey doesn't just see some of the wonders seen and painted by great artists of the past, but even more wonderfully, he helps us see them too. Yet it is full of surprises. What he offers is never a matter of beauty for its own sake, although we are drawn into a glorious journey of beauty down the ages; nor is it one of artistic skills and accomplishments, although every one of the artists he focuses on could easily claim to have mastered their art; nor even can this book be distilled into a mere, fascinating overview of five centuries of human creativity (even though the story told provides a superb entry-point to the novice keen to learn more). The greatest joy of this book, however, is that the accumulative effect of these nine artists has helped me glimpse something of the world and of humanity as God our Creator sees us. And what a gift that is!' * Mark Meynell, Director (Europe & Caribbean), Langham Partnership, writer and cultural critic: A Wilderness of Mirrors and When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend *'Russ Ramsey has gone deep into the histories of nine artists and their masterworks, revealing how each struggled--in both their giftedness and fallenness--to create beauty. I am reminded anew of how beauty leads us to God, 'the Author of beauty.' I cannot wait to share this book!' * Debbie Taylor, visual artist *'Russ Ramsey was kind enough to give me an early chapter of this book a few years ago when I was preparing to go on a silent retreat and asked him for a work of art I might spend some time meditating on during my weekend away. Thanks to Russ's recommendation, I spent hours contemplating Rembrandt's painting, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. I was shaken by the depiction of this scene and the disciples' question to Jesus, 'Do you not care that we are perishing?' Russ's gentle shepherding of my understanding regarding the painting and the Biblical story behind it was a balm in my life just when I needed it. I know that this book will be the same for you.' * Shawn Smucker, author of The Day the Angels Fell and The Weight of Memory *'Sometimes, when standing at a museum, I think to myself 'I wish somebody who knows something would explain this to me.' And I look around and see, on one side of me, someone expertly pointing out every intricacy in the painting and, on the other, someone bored and looking at a phone in hand. Somehow this book is able to captivate people in all those categories. In this book, Russ Ramsey walks us through a museum of artists and art works, showing how each of them illuminates something about God, humanity, and the meaning of life. And this book does so in a way that won't bore the expert or intimidate the novice. Those who love art will find here new paths to the gospel. And those who love the gospel will find that they can love art. That's a lot to ask from a book, and this one delivers.' * Russell Moore, Director of Christianity Today’s Public Faith Project *

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Book Synopsis The comprehensive collection of letters spanning the adult life of one of the world’s greatest storytellers, now revised and expanded to include more than 150 previously unseen letters, with revealing new insights into The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Trade Review‘The closest we can get to an actual autobiography … reveals new insights into the mind of one of England’s greatest storytellers’ Telegraph ‘These revised and amplified letters are an absolute treat’ Sunday Times ‘This is a terrific book … the letters simply glow with warmth, interest and enthusiasm’ Private Eye ‘These letters provide an intriguing new glimpse into Tolkien’s life and work, allowing us to hear from one of the world’s best-loved authors in his own voice’ The National Archives

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Book SynopsisBorn in Tuscany in 1304, Italian poet Francesco Petrarca is widely considered one of the fathers of the modern Italian language. His writings inspired the Humanist movement and, subsequently, the Renaissance, but few figures are as complex or as misunderstood. He was a devotee of the ancient pagan Roman world and a devout Christian, a lover of friendship and sociability, yet at times an intensely private and almost misanthropic man. He believed life on earth was little more than a transitory pilgrimage, and took himself as his most important subject-matter. Christopher S. Celenza provides the first general account of Petrarch's life and work in English in over thirty years, and considers how his reputation and identity have changed over the centuries. He brings to light Petrarch's unrequited love for his poetic muse, Laura, the experiences of his university years, the anti-institutional attitude he developed as he sought a path to modernity by looking toward antiquity, and his endless focus on himself. Drawing on both Petrarch's Italian and Latin writings, this is a revealing portrait of a paradoxical figure: a man of mystique, historical importance and endless fascination.Trade Review'Complexities of interpretation are food and drink to Petrarchan scholars, and Christopher Celenza tucks into them with quiet determination in his short life-and-works overview . . . Celenza's book introduces us to the breadth of Petrarch's intellectual world.' - Charles Nicholl, London Review of Books; 'Celenza's account, easily the best and most accessible life of Petrarch to appear in English in a century . . . ranges easily over the whole of the poet's life and times, following him in the "wanderings" Celenza describes as characterising Petrarch's somewhat peripatetic career in the service of the wealthy Visconti family and others. The book's main strength is its literary sensitivity; Celenza finds echoes of Petrarch's life in a far wider array of his writings than marquee sonnets - his various treatises, essays, and Latin verse all receive refreshingly intelligent integration into the broader narrative . . . the book's most memorable Petrarch is also its best achievement: the man himself, querulous, self-doubting, eager for fame but distrustful of it. That Petrarch very much does speak to our own age, and in these pages by Celenza, he finally gets a life of his own.' - The National; '[Petrarch] himself turned again and again in his writings to the flaws of humanity. Celenza exposes the Italian writer's flaws throughout his book, while simultaneously eliciting pity and respect. If he's a "misunderstood" man, then this book makes us want to understand him, contradictions and all.' - Times Higher Education; 'The entire book shines with Celenza's close attention to historical and philological detail, his superb textual and contextual analyses, and his deep understanding of how much Petrarch's legacy contributed to European cultural life. This brief review can barely suggest the subtlety with which the author interweaves such familiar texts as the poet's account of climbing Mount Ventoux with his evolving idea of Italy, and such ongoing endeavours as the poet's incursions into Italian verse with his efforts to secure a political future for Italy. Though designed for and accessible to a wide readership, the book will delight Petrarchan specialists with up-to-date nuggets of scholarly information, smart insights into cultural contexts, and powerful reinterpretations of landmark texts.' - Renaissance and Reformation; '[a] well-informed yet highly readable and elegant presentation . . . an impressive publication with which Celenza has set a standard for future research that will not be easy to surpass, when it comes to outlining Petrarch's intellectual profile both from the perspective of his life and work.' - Bernhard Huss, Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift; 'The Epilogue connects several facets of Petrarch's posthumous reputation, reviewing his identities as a Latinist, classicist and Tuscan love-poet, and arguing that his complex personality "speaks to our age more than ever". For scholars hoping to join that Petrarchan dialogue, Celenza's biography will serve as a vital interlocutor.' - Forum for Modern Language Studies; 'No one who wants an up-to-date introduction to Petrarch will do better than Christopher Celenza's life and letters treatment, Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer, beautifully printed by Reaktion Books. The prose is direct, demotic, and engaging, sometimes professorial, but pleasantly professorial.' - Brian Copenhaver, Journal of Modern History; 'The book on my table is beautiful, on the inside as well as the outside. And it is not only attractive to look at, it is also well written - a pleasure to read . . . This is a book that is meant to read from start to finish, rather than as a reference work; reading it is a little like walking through a labyrinth, or solving puzzles (which the present writer at least loves doing). It is stimulating and it gives you new ideas.' - Bryn Mawr Classical Review; 'not least among this book's virtues is the wealth of color illustrations, which include not only portraits of the poet and photographs of important Petrarchan sites, but also copies of manuscripts owned, annotated, or written by Petrarch, as well as later editions of his works. For the uninitiated, these images and their commentary grant special access into Petrarch's own reading and writing habits. Combined with the author's breadth of reference and limpid prose style, they make this book a pleasurable and accessible guide to Petrarch for the twenty-first-century neophyte.' - Speculum; 'The striking appeal of Christopher Celenza's study is how the scattered worlds of Petrarch are brought together in vigorous unity - the passionate classicist haunted by a yearning for modernity, the Tuscan love poet whose melodious sonnets for Laura would be imitated for centuries, the restless Augustinian pilgrim, and the self-conscious yet enigmatic spider in a network of powerful friends and acquaintances. In his elegant and poetic style, Celenza combines reader-friendliness with scholarly sophistication and depth. This is a timely intellectual biography written by one of today's leading Renaissance scholars.' - Professor Unn Falkeid, University of Oslo, author of The Avignon Papacy Contested: An Intellectual History from Dante to Catherine of Siena

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Book SynopsisIs it ever possible to know 'the truth' about Sylvia Plath and her marriage to Ted Hughes, which ended with her suicide? In The Silent Woman, renowned writer Janet Malcolm examines the biographies of Sylvia Plath, with particular focus on Anne Stevenson's Bitter Fame, to discover how Plath became an enigma in literary history. The Silent Woman is a brilliant, elegantly reasoned inquiry into the nature of biography, dispelling our innocence as readers, as well as shedding a light onto why Plath's legend continues to exert such a hold on our imaginations.Trade ReviewOne of the deepest, loveliest, and most problematic things Janet Malcolm has written. It is so subtle, so patiently analytical, and so true that it is difficult to envisage anyone writing again about Plath and Hughes * Guardian *An astonishing writer with a grasp of nuance that can be electric * The Times *Intellectually explosive, morally challenging and enormous fun * Financial Times *Compulsively readable, the best thing Malcolm has ever done * LRB *Superbly written, flowing like a piece of music from theme to theme, recapitulating here, changing key there, always disguising the complexity of its underlying construction * Independent *The best-written and most stirring polemic of the year. Completely brilliant * The Times *The Silent Woman contains some of the best thinking I know on both the practical and the philosophical problems of biography -- Bernard Crick * New Statesman *Of the oceans of words written about Sylvia Plath, these are among the best... a master storyteller and a psychoanalyst rolled into one. Brilliant * Independent *The Silent Woman pioneered a new genre of biography in its exploration of Hughes and Sylvia Plath...The study ends with an exquisite twist that gives this book the urgency of fiction...insightful * Telegraph *The maestro of gripping nonfiction investigation * Sunday Times *Brilliant -- Megan Nolan * New Statesman *A bleakly entertaining j'accuse of biography as a genre * TLS *

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Book SynopsisShakespeare everyone can understandnow in new DELUXE editions! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, these popular guides make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. They introduce Shakespeare's world, significant plot points, and the key players. And now they feature expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter, along with links to bonus content on the Sparknotes.com website. A Q&A, guided analysis of significant literary devices, and review of the play give students all the tools necessary for understanding, discussing, and writing about Merchant of Venice. The expanded content includes:Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play. What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent? Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the charact

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Book SynopsisShakespeare everyone can understandnow in new DELUXE editions! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, these popular guides make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. They introduce Shakespeare's world, significant plot points, and the key players. And now they feature expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter, along with links to bonus content on the Sparknotes.com website. A Q&A, guided analysis of significant literary devices, and review of the play give students all the tools necessary for understanding, discussing, and writing about Othello. The expanded content includes:Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play. What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent? Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave

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Book SynopsisViolence and the Sacred is René Girard''s landmark study of human evil. Here Girard explores violence as it is represented and occurs throughout history, literature and myth. Girard''s forceful and thought-provoking analyses of Biblical narrative, Greek tragedy and the lynchings and pogroms propagated by contemporary states illustrate his central argument that violence belongs to everyone and is at the heart of the sacred.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 1.Sacrifice 2.The Sacrificial Crisis 3.Oedipus and the Surrogate Victim 4.The Origins of Myth and Ritual 5.Dionysus 6.From Mimetic Desire to the Monstrous Double 7.Freud and the Oedipus Complex 8.Totem and Taboo and the Incest Prohibition 9.Levi-Strauss, Structuralism and the Marriage Laws 10.The Gods, the Dead, the Sacred and Sacrificial Substitution 11.The Unity of All Rites Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTwelfth Night has seldom been off the stage since Shakespeare’s day. It has been performed for its romantic high comedy and its boisterous low comedy; with an emphasis on farce or on autumnal melancholy; as straightforward celebration of heterosexual love and marriage or as exploration of the complexity of gender. David Carnegie and Mark Houlahan’s introduction to the play provides a lively discussion of the play’s performance history and encourages readers to think about stagecraft and the play as a performance text, while the historical appendices provide materials that illuminate different thematic elements of the play. Extended notes interleaved throughout the play present relevant illustrations and expand on mythological, historical, and religious references in the play. The accompanying online text will offer additional commentary on staging alternatives and more extensive visual materials.A collaboration between Broadview Press and the Internet Shakespeare Editions project at the University of Victoria, the editions developed for this series have been comprehensively annotated and draw on the authoritative texts newly edited for the ISE. This innovative series allows readers to access extensive and reliable online resources linked to the print edition.Trade Review“Here is a text of Twelfth Night with a ‘broad view’ in more than name. There is, it seems, something for everyone in this edition, from the performer to the prosodist, and the pedant to the pupil. The edition is lavishly supplemented by other texts—some familiar, some surprising. Those appendices allow the reader to trace Twelfth Night’s narrative and intellectual affiliations, enabling the reader to track not just the play’s debts but its contribution to Renaissance preoccupations with music, friends, gender, and more. The text itself is amply illustrated, coherently lineated, and admirably glossed. In the notes, the reader will discover editors with a nuanced touch for performance. These are seasoned theatrical veterans with a deft ear for verse and a fine eye for staging possibilities. Used in synch with the internet Shakespeare’s on-line resources, this edition both takes and offers a broad view of Twelfth Night.” — Paul Menzer, Mary Baldwin CollegeTable of ContentsFOREWORDACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTIONSHAKESPEARE’S LIFESHAKESPEARE’S THEATREWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A BRIEF CHRONOLOGYA NOTE ON THE TEXTA NOTE ON THE MUSIC AND SONGSABBREVIATIONSTWELFTH NIGHT, OR WHAT YOU WILLAppendix A : SOURCES From Barnabe Riche, “Of Apollonius and Silla” (1581) From Gl’Ingannati—the Deceived (1531) Appendix B: RENAISSANCE SHIPWRECKS From Heliodorus, An Aethiopian History, trans. Thomas Underdowne (1587) From Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1593) Appendix C: TWINS AND AFFINITY From Plautus, Menaechmi, trans. William Warner (1595) From William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors (c. 1593) From George Puttenham, “Hendiadys, or The Figure of Twins” (1589) From Michel de Montaigne, “Of Friendship,” trans. John Florio (1603) From Richard Brathwaite, The English Gentleman (1633) APPENDIX D: GENDER AND DISGUISE From Plato, The Symposium (c. 380 BCE) From John Lyly, Galatea (1592) William Shakespeare, Sonnet 20 (1609) From Stephen Gosson, Plays Confuted in Five Actions (1582) From Hic Mulier: Or, The Man-Woman (1620) APPENDIX E: MANNERS AND CODES From Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, trans. Sir Thomas Hoby (1561) From Giles Rose, A Perfect School of Instructions … (1682) From Henry Swinburne, A Treatise of Spousals, or Matrimonial Contracts (1686) APPENDIX F: FOOLS, FESTIVITY, AND MISRULE From Robert Armin, Fool upon Fool (1600) From Robert Armin, Quips upon Questions (1600) From Philip Stubbes, The Anatomy of Abuses (1583) From Thomas Nashe, Summer’s Last Will and Testament (1600) From Revels Office Documents on the Lord of Misrule (1551) From the Records of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1566) From Shropshire Parish Documents (1556-1635) From Sir John Harington, “On the entertainment for the King of Denmark” (1606) From “King James, Declaration to the Bishop of Chester, 24 May 1618” From Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, Le Prince d’Amour: Or, The Prince of Love (1660) APPENDIX G: PURITANISM From The Pilgrimage to Parnassus (c. 1598-1602) From Thomas Nashe, The Return of the Renowned Cavaliero Pasquil of England (1589) From Thomas Nashe, Martin’s Month’s Mind (1589) From Thomas Nashe, A Countercuff Given to Martin Junior (1589) APPENDIX H: MUSIC From Marsilio Ficino, Commentary on Plato’s Symposium (1474) From Cicero, On the Commonwealth and on the Laws (c. 50 BCE) From Thomas Wright, The Passions of the Mind in General (1604) WORKS CITED AND BIBLIOGRAPHYFILMOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisDesigned to meet the requirements for students at GCSE and A level, this accessible educational edition offers the complete text of Never Let Me Go with a comprehensive study guide. Intended for individual study as well as class use, Geoff Barton''s guide: clearly introduces the context of the novel and its author; examines in detail its themes, characters and structure; looks at the novel in the author's own words, and at different critical receptions; provides glossaries and test questions to prompt deeper thinking.In one of the most memorable novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now thirty-one, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at a seemingly idyllic school, Hailsham, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

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Book SynopsisThis edition prints all three parts of Dante's great poem about the journey of the soul - INFERNO, PURGATORIO and PARADISO - in the recent English translation by Allen Mandelbaum, with an introduction and explanatory notes on each canto by the noted Dante scholar, Peter Armour. This is the only reasonably priced hardback edition of one of the world's greatest masterworks and should prove to be the most accessible for students and general readers alike. It includes Botticelli's glorious and relatively unknown illustrations of THE DIVINE COMEDY, drawn in the 1480s.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one-half his days and mad the other.'When Helen flees from her alcoholic husband in order to protect her son she defies societal convention. Earning a living as an artist, she becomes the mysterious tenant of Wildfell Hall as she hides herself away and uses her art to support her child. However, the beautiful and reclusive young woman soon begins to stir up malicious gossip and speculation. Captivated and drawn to Helen, Gilbert Markham becomes suspicious when he begins to hear these stories, however it is only when he reads Helen's diary that he learns the full cruelty that her husband subjected her to in her previous life.Rejecting the societal norms surrounding marriage in Victorian Society, Anne Brontë's novel, said to be based on the experiences of her own brother Branwell, shocked her readers at the time and still remains a scan

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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.

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative new translation of Plato's foundational work of Western philosophy The Republic is Plato's masterwork. It was written 2,400 years ago and remains one of the most widely read books in the world, famous for both the richness of its ideas and the virtuosity of its writing. Presented as a dialogue between Plato's teacher Socrates and various interlocutors, it is an exhortation to study philosophy, inviting its readers to reflect on the choices we must make if we are to live the best life available to us. This complex, dynamic work creates a picture of an ideal society governed not money, power, or fame, but by philosophy, wisdom, and justice. 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 disciplines. Readers trust the sTrade Review"Must we not acknowledge...that in each of us there are the same principles and habits which there are in the State; and that from the individual they pass into the State?"What does it mean to be good? What enables us to distinguish right from wrong? And how should human virtues be translated into a just society? These are the questions that Plato sought to answer in this monumental work of moral and political philosophy, a book surpassed only by the Bible in its formative influence on two thousand years of Western thought.In the course of its tautly reasoned Socratic dialogues, The Republic accomplishes nothing less than an anatomy of the soul and an exhaustive description of a State that both mirrors and enforces the soul's ideal harmony. The resulting text is at once mystical and elegantly logical and may be read as a template for the societies in which most of us live today.Vintage Classics are quality paperback editions of the world's greatest written works. They are durably bound and are printed exclusively on acid-free paper.

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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.

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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

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Book SynopsisComposed while its author was imprisoned, this book remains one of Western literature’s most eloquent meditations on the transitory nature of earthly belongings, and the superiority of things of the mind. Slavitt’s translation captures Boethius’s energy and passion. Seth Lerer places Boethius’s life and achievement in context in his introduction.Trade ReviewThis is a sensitive and readable translation, whose poetic merits place it beyond other translations of Boethius's great text. -- Henry TaylorA remarkable translation of one of the great masterpieces of philosophical literature. -- Gail Holst-Warhaft, Cornell UniversityA springboard for personal reflection and a source of literate pleasure. -- Steven Chabot * Library Journal *It's a remarkable book (though a short one), and its latest edition, rendered into fluid, compellingly immediate English by veteran translator David R. Slavitt, is very markedly the best one it's ever had...Slavitt presents the reader with Boethius brought to vibrant, vigorous life, to a degree that makes all previous English versions seem pedantic and irrelevant. Harvard University Press has crafted a physically beautiful volume, sturdy and small enough to fit in your pocket--an extremely fitting format for a book that's meant to be a comfort against life's ills. Reading this edition, even readers who've never encountered Boethius before will see at once why his book has meant so much to so many people for the last 1,500 years. -- Steve Donoghue * openlettersmonthly.com *This is a beautifully made little book that I have taken with me on a number of trips, partly just for the pleasure of holding it. At any time I would be glad to have it. -- John Wilson * Books and Culture *Table of Contents* Acknowledgments * Introduction by Seth Lerer * Book I * Book II * Book III * Book IV * Book V

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Book SynopsisThe first duty of a storyteller is to tell a story.' Or was it The only duty of a storyteller is to tell a story'?A writer in a totalitarian state is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of child-murders that are happening in his town.''Sometimes you don''t even know what you''ve been craving until the real thing comes along.'' New York Times''McDonagh is more than just a very clever theatrical stylist. His tricks and turns have a purpose. They are bridges over a deep pit of sympathy and sorrow, illuminated by a tragic vision of stunted and frustrated lives.'' Fintan O''Toole, Irish TimesMartin McDonagh''s searingly brilliant play premiered at the National Theatre, London in November 2003. It was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, in June 2023.

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Book SynopsisThe best poet in America' Jean GenetHe brought everybody down to earth, even the angels' Leonard CohenThe definitive collection from a writer whose transgressive legacy and raw, funny, acutely observant writing has left an enduring markHere is Bukowski eating walnuts and scratching his back, rolling a cigarette while listening to Brahms, showering with Linda in the mid-afternoon.Here is Bukowski knowing that the secret is beyond him, that people who never go crazy live truly horrible lives, that there's a bluebird in his heart that wants to get out.Here is Bukowski at his most hilarious and heart-breaking, his most raw and profound; here is Bukowski at his best.Trade Review‘The best poet in America’ Jean Genet ‘He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels’ Leonard Cohen

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Book SynopsisFeaturing plays and poetry from all over the world, including Latin American and African fiction, this book offers a deeper look into the famed fiction of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and more, as in-depth literary criticism and interesting authorial biographies give each work of literature a new meaning.Table of Contents 1: Introduction 2: Heroes and legends 3000BCE – 1300CE 1: Only the gods dwell forever in sunlight, The Epic of Gilgamesh 2: To nourish oneself on ancient virtue induces perseverance, Book of Changes, attributed to King Wen of Zhou 3: What is this crime I am planning, O Krishna? Mahabharata, attributed to Vyasa 4: Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles, Iliad, attributed to Homer 5: How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there’s no help in the truth! Oedipus the King, Sophocles 6: The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent, and easy is the way, Aeneid, Virgil 7: Fate will unwind as it must, Beowulf 8: So Scheherazade began… One Thousand and One Nights 9: Since life is but a dream, why toil to no avail? Quan Tangshi 10: Real things in the darkness seem no realer than dreams, The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu 11: A man should suffer greatly for his Lord, The Song of Roland 12: Tandaradei, sweetly sang the nightingale, “Under the Linden Tree”, Walther von der Vogelwelde 13: He who dares not follow love’s command errs greatly, Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, Chretien de Troyes 14: Let another’s wound be my warning, Njal’s Saga 15: Further reading 2: Renaissance to enlightenment 1300 - 1800 1: I found myself within a shadowed forest, The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri 2: We three will swear brotherhood and unity of aims and sentiments, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong 3: Turn over the leef and chese another tale, The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer 4: Laughter’s the property of man. Live joyfully, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Francois Rabelais 5: As it did to this flower, the doom of age will blight your beauty, Les Amours de Cassandre, Pierre de Ronsard 6: He that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall, Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe 7: Every man is the child of his own deeds, Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes 8: One man in his time plays many parts, First Folio, William Shakespeare 9: To esteem everything is to esteem nothing, The Misanthrope, Moliere 10: But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near, Miscellaneous Poems, Andrew Marvell 11: Sadly, I part from you; like a clam torn from its shell, I go, and autumn too, The Narrow Road to the Interior, Matsuo Basho 12: None will hinder and none be hindered on the journey to the mountain of death, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, Chikamatsu Monzaemon 13: I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good family, Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe 14: If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others? Candide, Voltaire 15: I have courage enough to walk through hell barefoot, The Robbers, Friedrich Schiller 16: There is nothing more difficult in love than expressing in writing what one does not feel, Les Liaisons dangereuses, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 17: Further reading 3: Romanticism and the rise of the novel 1800 - 1855 1: Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge, Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge 2: Nothing is more wonderful, nothing more fantastic than real life, Nachtstucke, E T A Hoffmann 3: Man errs, till he has ceased to strive, Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 4: Once upon a time… Children’s and Household Tales, Brothers Grimm 5: For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 6: Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley 7: All for one, one for all, The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas 8: But happiness I never aimed for, it is a stranger to my soul, Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin 9: Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes, Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman 10: You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass 11: I am no bird; and no net ensnares me, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte 12: I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul! Wurthering Heights, Emily Bronte 13: There is no folly of the beast of the Earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men, Moby-Dick, Herman Melville 14: All partings foreshadow the great final one, Bleak House, Charles Dickens 15: Further Reading 4: Depicting real life 1855 – 1900 1: Boredom, quiet as the spider, was spinning its web in the shadowy places of her heart, Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert 2: I too am a child of this land; I too grew up amid this scenery, The Guarani, Jose de Alencar 3: The poet is a kinsman in the clouds, Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire 4: Not being heard is no reason for silence, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo 5: Curiouser and curiouser! Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 6: Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart, Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky 7: To describe directly the life of humanity or even of a single nation, appears impossible, War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy 8: It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view, Middlemarch, George Eliot 9: We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne 10: In Sweden all we do is to celebrate jubilees, The Red Room, August Strindberg 11: She is written in a foreign tongue, The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James 12: Human beings can be awful cruel to one another, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain 13: He simply wanted to go down the mine again, to suffer and to struggle, Germinal, Emile Zola 14: The evening sun was now ugly to her, like a great inflamed wound in the sky, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy 15: The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde 16: There are things old and new which must not be contemplated by men’s eyes, Dracula, Bram Stoker 17: One of the dark places of the earth, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad 18: Further reading 5: Breaking with tradition 1900 - 1945 1: The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle 2: I am a cat. As yet I have no name. I’ve no idea where I was born, I am a Cat, Natsume Soseki 3: Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin, Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka 4: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, Poems, Wilfred Owen 5: April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, The Waste Land, T S Eliot 6: The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit, Ulysses, James Joyce 7: When I was young I, too, had many dreams, Call to Arms, Lu Xun 8: Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself, The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran 9: Criticism marks the origin of progress and enlightenment, The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann 10: Like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars, The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald 11: The old world must crumble. Awake, wind of dawn! Berlin Alexanderplatz, Alfred Doblin 12: Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston 13: Dead men are heavier than broken hearts, The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler 14: It is such a secret place, the land of tears, The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery 15: Further reading 6: Post-war writing 1945 – 1970 1: Big Brother is watching you, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 2: I’m seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I’m about thirteen, The Catcher in the Rye, J D Salinger 3: Death is a gang-boss aus Deutschland, Poppy and Memory, Paul Celan 4: I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison 5: Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul, Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov 6: Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful! Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett 7: It is impossible to touch eternity with one hand and life with the other, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Yukio Mishima 8: He was the beat – the root, the soul of beatific, On the Road, Jack Kerouac 9: What is good among one people is an abomination with others, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe 10: Even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings, The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass 11: I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 12: Nothing is lost if one has the courage to proclaim that all is lost and we must begin anew, Hopscotch, Julio Cortazar 13: He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, Catch-22, Joseph Heller 14: I rhyme to see myself, to set the darkness echoing, Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heaney 15: There’s got to be something wrong with us. To do what we did, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote 16: Ending at every moment but never ending its ending, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez 17: Further reading 7: Contemporary literature 1970 – present 1: Our history is an aggregate of last moments, Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon 2: You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, Italio Calvino 3: To understand just one life you have to swallow the world, Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie 4: Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another, Beloved, Toni Morrison 5: Heaven and Earth were in turmoil, Red Sorghum, Mo Yan 6: You could not tell a story like this. A story like this you could only feel, Oscar and Lucinda, Peter Carey 7: Cherish our island for its green simplicities, Omeros, Derek Walcott 8: I felt lethal, on the verge of frenzy, American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis 9: Quietly they moved down the calm and sacred river, A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth 10: It’s a very Greek idea, and a profound one. Beauty is terror, The Secret History, Donna Tartt 11: What we see before us is just one tiny part of the world, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami 12: Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are, Blindness, Jose Saramago 13: English is an unfit medium for the truth of South Africa, Disgrace, J M Coetzee 14: Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories, White Teeth, Zadie Smith 15: The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn’t one, The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood 16: There was something his family wanted to forget, The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen 17: It all stems from the same nightmare, the one we created together, The Guest, Hwang Sok-yong 18: I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer 19: Further reading 8: Glossary 9: Index 10: Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisBefore The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the earliest myths and legends of Middle-earth and Valinor were laid down in The Book of Lost Tales, written by J.R.R. Tolkien between 1916 and 1920, and compiled by Christopher Tolkien for publication in 1983.The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor, for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion.Embedded in English legend, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the lonely Isle where the Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of the geography and cosmology of Tolkien's invented world.This first volume in Christopher Tolkien's epic History of Middle-earth series is the perfect gateway for anyone wanting to tread deeper into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's world and discover the evolution of the Middle-earth stories.Trade Review‘Christopher Tolkien shows himself to be his father’s son… Tolkien devotees will rejoice’ The New York Times Book Review ‘In these Lost Tales we have the scholar joyously gambolling in the thicket of his imagination… a Commentary and Notes greatly enrich the quest’ Daily Telegraph ‘The Tales will be appreciated by those who have read The Silmarillion and wish to examine how Tolkien improved his story and style from their original form, and how eventually The Lord of the Rings came to stand independently with only a few hints from the early mythology’ British Book News

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Book SynopsisThe third volume that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.This, the third volume of The History of Middle-earth, gives us a priviledged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth, through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien's world those of Turien and Luthien. The first of the poems is the unpublished Lay of The Children of Hurin, narrating on a grand scale the tragedy of Turin Turambar. The second is the moving Lay of Leithian, the chief source of the tale of Beren and Luthien in The Silmarillion, telling of the Quest of the Silmaril and the encounter with Morgoth in his subterranean fortress.Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days. Also included is the notable criticism of The Lay of The Leithian by CS Lewis, who read the poem in 1929.Trade Review‘A worthy addition to The History of Middle-earth’ Mallorn ‘Anyone loving the oiginal books will want to study this one’ Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisThe first authorized copy of this mysterious, much-speculated-upon, one-of-a-kind, centuries-old puzzleTrade Review“For the first time, a complete reproduction [of] The Voynich Manuscript, has been published, featuring essays exploring what is known about the book and extra-wide margins so readers can record their responses to its beguiling, beautiful strangeness.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe“For people who like a good historical mystery, this first authorized publication of the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Voynich Manuscript will fascinate.”—Rebecca Onion, Slate“Handsome and well-produced. . . This facsimile and the accompanying series of essays give a clear sense of the current state of knowledge on the manuscript and reveal the findings of new research.”—H. R. Woud Huysen, Times Literary Supplement“The Voynich MS has inspired generations of enthusiasts dedicated to deciphering it. . . . This beautiful facsimile will make it available for many more people to become enticed and entranced by it.”—David V. Barrett, Fortean Times“The Voynich Manuscript, a volume edited by the library’s curator Raymond Clemens, revivifies this tantalising artefact. . . . Wide margins are deliberately provided for readers’ notes on their own ideas. ‘Bonne chance!,’ writes Clemens. I’ll second that.”—Andrew Robinson, Nature“Perhaps studying these pages in the hope of unlocking secrets is to miss the point. It’s almost as though the book exists in order to make the inquiry into its existence possible.”—Jamie Martin, London Review of Books“As handsome a new book as you could own. This medieval beauty has it all: fold-out sections, delicate illustrations of plants, astrological charts, what look to be alchemical recipes. . . . But the main thing about it—the thing that makes publishing it so quixotic—is that it’s a book you can’t actually read. Nobody can.”—Sam Leith, Prospect“Sumptuous facsimile reproduction. . . . Jennifer Rampling’s judiciously skeptical essay . . . is a careful deconstruction of over-excited theories.”—Kathryn Murphy, Apollo“This new book, reproducing the entire Voynich Manuscript, is a godsend. While the essays offer valid clues to the manuscript’s age and relation to late medieval science, the manuscript itself stubbornly refuses to yield its secrets.”—Roger S. Wieck, Department of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Morgan Library & Museum“A book worthy of its subject in every way. Clemens and his collaborators have done an extraordinary job teasing out some of the secrets and wonders of the enigmatic Voynich Manuscript in ways that will make this volume an invaluable resource for many years to come.”—Bruce Holsinger, author of A Burnable Book“Many hands have held Voynich’s now-eponymous book over the centuries . . . yet none of them have managed convincingly to solve its mysteries.”—Deborah Harkness, from the Introduction

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Book SynopsisAddresses the question of how to live well, and originates the concept of cultivating a virtuous character as the basis of his ethical system. In this title, the author sets out to examine the nature of happiness. It discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, and the different forms of friendship.Table of ContentsThe Nicomachean EthicsPrefaceChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the TextSynopsisThe Nicomachean EthicsBook I: The Object of LifeBook II: Moral GoodnessBook III: Moral Responsibility: Two VirtuesBook IV: Other Moral VirtuesBook V: JusticeBook VI: Intellectual VirtuesBook VII: Continence and Incontinence: THe Nature of PleasureBook VIII: The Kinds of FriendshipBook IX: The Grounds of FriendshipBook X: Pleasure and the Life of HappinessAppendix 1: Table of Virtues and VicesAppendix 2: PythagoreanismAppendix 3: The Sophists and SocratesAppendix 4: Plato's Theory of FormsAppendix 5: The CatagoriesAppendix 6: Substance and ChangeAppendix 7: Nature and TheologyAppendix 8: The Practical SyllogismAppendix 9: Pleasure and ProcessAppendix 10: LiturgiesAppendix 11: Aristotle in the Middle AgesGlossary of Greek WordsIndex of NamesSubject Index

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Book SynopsisA new look at the life and works of William Blake, revealing the full complexity and enduring legacy of this deeply spiritual, politically radical figure.

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Book SynopsisNo Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of As You Like It on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.

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Book SynopsisWhen an essay is due and dreaded exams loom, this book offers students what they need to succeed. It provides chapter-by-chapter analysis, explanations of key themes, motifs and symbols, a review quiz, and essay topics. It is suitable for late-night studying and paper writing.

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Book SynopsisTable of Contents Part 1: Introducing Hamlet Part 2: Studying Hamlet Part 3: Characters and Themes Part 4: Structure, Form and Language Part 5: Contexts and Critical Debates Part 6: Grade Booster Essential Study Tools

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Book SynopsisThis updated edition is designed to support students in study and revision for the new GCSE (9-1) English Literature exams. Table of Contents Part 1: Induction Part 2: Plot and Action Part 3: Characters Part 4: Key Contexts and Themes Part 5: Language and Structure Part 6: Grade Booster Literacy Terms

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