ELT & Literary Studies Books

19211 products


  • The Call of the Wild and White Fang

    Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc The Call of the Wild and White Fang

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang (1906) are two classic American adventure novels by Jack London depicting the evolution of two dogs in the wild, now presented together in this elegantly designed jacketed hardcover edition.

    2 in stock

    £7.59

  • The Doctors Wife

    Oxford University Press The Doctors Wife

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis`Isabel Gilbert was not a woman of the world. She had read novels while other people perused the Sunday papers...she believed in a phantasmal world created out of the pages of poets and romancers.'' The Doctor''s Wife is Mary Elizabeth Braddon''s rewriting of Flaubert''s Madame Bovary in which she explores her heroine''s sense of entrapment and alienation in middle-class provincial life married to a good natured but bovine husband who seems incapable of understanding his wife''s imaginative life and feelings. A woman with a secret, adultery, death and the spectacle of female recrimination and suffering are the elements which combine to make The Doctor''s Wife a classic women''s sensation novel. Yet, The Doctor''s Wife is also a self-consciously literary novel, in which Braddon attempts to transcend the sensation genre. This is the only edition of a fascinating and engrossing work, and reproduces uncut the first three-volume edition of 1864. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • Wuthering Heights everything you need to catch up

    Pearson Education Wuthering Heights everything you need to catch up

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The text Part 3: Critical approachs Part 4: Critical history Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Faust Part I

    Penguin Books Ltd Faust Part I

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrade Review" One of those great works of literature into which a writer has been able to combine his ranging preoccupations and understanding as he worked." -A. S. Byatt, from the Preface

    5 in stock

    £9.49

  • Gorgias

    Oxford University Press Gorgias

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThe struggle which Plato has Socrates recommend to his interlocutors in Gorgias - and to his readers - is the struggle to overcome the temptations of worldly success and to concentrate on genuine morality. Ostensibly an enquiry into the value of rhetoric, the dialogue soon becomes an investigation into the value of these two contrasting ways of life. In a series of dazzling and bold arguments, Plato attempts to establish that only morality can bring a person true happiness, and to demolish alternative viewpoints. It is not suprising that Gorgias is one of Plato''s most widely read dialogues. Philosophers read it for its coverage of central moral issues; others enjoy its vividness, clarity and occasional bitter humour. This new translation is accompanied by explanatory notes and an informative introduction. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s comm

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • A Students Guide to the Selected Poems of T. S.

    Faber & Faber A Students Guide to the Selected Poems of T. S.

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis is a revised and enlarged edition. It is designed to help the reader of Eliot's Selected Poems by identifying and explaining the wide and often baffling range of quotations, allusions and references, literary, factual and historical.

    2 in stock

    £11.69

  • Othello SparkNotes Literature Guide

    Spark Othello SparkNotes Literature Guide

    1 in stock

    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.

    1 in stock

    £7.49

  • How to Read World Literature

    John Wiley and Sons Ltd How to Read World Literature

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe new edition of this highly popular guide, How to Read World Literature, addresses the unique challenges and joys faced when approaching the literature of other cultures and eras. Fully revised to address important developments in World Literature, and generously expanded with new material, this second edition covers a wide variety of genres from lyric and epic poetry to drama and prose fiction and discusses how each form has been used in different eras and cultures. An ideal introduction for those new to the study of World Literature, as well as beginners to ancient and foreign literature, this book offers a variety of modes of entry to reading these texts. The author, a leading authority in the field, draws on years of teaching experience to provide readers with ways of thinking creatively and systematically about key issues, such as reading across time and cultures, reading works in translation, emerging global perspectives, postcolonialism, orality and literacy, and Table of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition ix Introduction 1 1 What Is “Literature”? 9 2 Reading across Time 31 3 Reading across Cultures 57 4 Reading in Translation 83 5 Brave New Worlds 107 6 Writing Empire 135 7 Global Writing 157 Epilogue: Going Farther 181 Bibliography 187 Index 197

    1 in stock

    £20.85

  • The Connell Short Guide To Ian McEwan's Atonement

    CONNELL PUBLISHING LTD The Connell Short Guide To Ian McEwan's Atonement

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £5.99

  • The Age of Anxiety  A Baroque Eclogue

    Princeton University Press The Age of Anxiety A Baroque Eclogue

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisProvides an analysis of Western culture during the Second World War that won the Pulitzer Prize and inspired a symphony by Leonard Bernstein as well as a ballet by Jerome Robbins.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2011 "[Auden's] most significant piece of work... [W]e have in W. H. Auden a master musician of rhythm and note, unable to be dull, in fact an enchanter, under the magic of indigenous gusto ... The Age of Anxiety assures us that fear and lust have, in faith and purity, a cure so potent we need never know panic or be defeated by Self."--Marianne Moore, New York Times "The Age of Anxiety (1947), perhaps the finest of them all, tests Auden's ideas within the experience of modernity."--Lachlan MacKinnon, Times Literary Supplement "[M]agnificent ... [and] enormously rich in allusion, sound, and intellectual power... For pessimism and naturalism and virtuosity, The Age of Anxiety makes one think of Shakespeare's Tempest."--Jacques Barzun, Harper's Magazine "[An]emotionally stunning work... [O]ne of the splendid poems of our language."--M. L. Rosenthal, New York Herald Tribune "Princeton University Press's new critical, annotated edition of The Age of Anxiety seeks to repair and renew contemporary readers' relationship with the poem. That it should triumphantly succeed in this task, however, has less to do with unraveling the poem's intricacies than with clearly showing how its many knots are tied. In an expansive preface and through rigorous textual notes, editor and Auden scholar Alan Jacobs outlines the circumstances of the poem's composition, traces the relations between psychology and religious belief as they play out in the text, and firmly situates the work in its historical moment... It can only be hoped that this handsome new edition brings The Age of Anxiety to a new 'pitiful handful'. Those lucky few will discover in its pages one of the last century's great, and greatly neglected, poems."--Geordie Williamson, Australian "This new edition contains an elegant, unostentatious commentary by Alan Jacobs, an American professor whose previous books include a cultural history of Original Sin."--Richard Davenport-Hines, The Spectator "Elegantly printed, [The Age of Anxiety] is graced by [Alan] Jacobs's essay-length introduction, which traces the poem's evolution from the time Auden moved from Europe to the US in 1939 to its publication both in Britain (1947) and the US (1948)."--Choice "This new edition of Auden's The Age of Anxiety under review here provides a timely occasion for the reconceptualization of the structures of the collective imagination in the era of global violence and viral media spectacle. Benefiting from Alan Jacob's revealing and comprehensive prefactory note, the volume invites concerted theoretical effort toward the configuration of a post-apocalyptic poetics."--Nigel Mcloughlin, ABC StudiesTable of ContentsPreface vii Introduction xi The Age of Anxiety 1 Appendix: Two Letters on Metrical Matters 109 Textual Notes 113

    10 in stock

    £18.04

  • The Song of Lunch

    Faber & Faber The Song of Lunch

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisLunch in Soho with a former lover - but Zanzotti''s is under new management, and as the wine takes effect fond memories give way to something closer to the bone . . .Christopher Reid''s poem, which since its first publication has been filmed by the BBC and presented on stage in numerous venues, follows the lunchtime reunion of two long-separated lovers. Every smallest detail is cherished, as step by step the narrative moves towards its tragicomic outcome.

    2 in stock

    £11.69

  • Roman History Volume I

    Harvard University Press Roman History Volume I

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAppian (ca. AD 95–161) is a principal source for the history of the Roman Republic. His theme is the process by which Rome achieved her contemporary prosperity, and his method is to trace in individual books the story of each nation’s wars with Rome up through her own civil wars. This Loeb edition replaces the original by Horace White (1912–13).Trade ReviewA superb, nuanced translation…It is not simply that McGing updates the translation to reflect contemporary idiom; he also breathes new life into Appian’s prose on almost every page…This exceptionally well executed Loeb is a welcome resource that will be deeply appreciated by all those interested in Appian and his remarkable Roman History as well as expand his appeal to a new generation of readers. -- Alain M. Gowing * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *I have not read any fictions that have more dramatic tension, philosophy, or narrative curiosities than this history of Appian’s. * Pennsylvania Literary Journal *

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Gods and Mortals

    Princeton University Press Gods and Mortals

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] superb retelling. . . . Nuanced, sympathetic and deeply moving."---Michael Dirda, Washington Post"Sarah Iles Johnston brings exceptional verve and scholarship to Gods and Mortals: Ancient Greek Myths for Modern Readers, a comprehensive volume. . . . [Johnston] restores the lustiness of tales that other writers have made bloodless. . . . Armchair enthusiasts may find some surprises."---Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal"[The] gods make Game of Thrones look like a pastoral idyll…this book is a delight and a ‘must have.’"---Roger Barnes, Classics for All"[Gods and Mortals] can almost be read as a novel…if you’re at all interested in the Greek myths and why they are still relevant to us in our modern world, you’ll want one on your bookshelf that you can keep and dip into over and again."---Terry Potter, The Letterpress Project"Lively, engaging, and well researched." * Choice Reviews *"Enjoyable."---Kathleen Fleming, Journal of Folklore Research Review

    £27.00

  • The Eerie Book

    Bodleian Library The Eerie Book

    Book Synopsis

    £15.29

  • How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator

    HarperCollins Publishers How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis''Irresistibly fascinating'' MARIE CLAIRE GREECE''Essential'' VICTORIA HISLOP''Brilliantly conceived'' PAUL CARTLEDGEAn enormous bestseller in Greece, this is a bold, witty retelling of the story of Ancient Greece by a rising star in archaeologyTwo strangers meet in a trapped elevator. One is an archaeologist, the other isn't. A simple question, What do you do?', becomes the springboard for a dialogue that weaves a fascinating tale.Archaeologist Theodore Papakostas takes us on a spectacularly iconoclastic and hugely engrossing journey through ancient Greece, from its beginnings in prehistory to its end. Marvelling at the exalted moments in history as well as the more mundane, Papakostas introduces the reader to countless fascinating stories about the cradle of western civilisation many of which upend received wisdom about the empire as well as about archaeology itself. Along the way, he settles questions such as: What did a Minoan princess pack for a trip to Egypt? How did a raunchy d

    2 in stock

    £16.14

  • Last Letter to a Reader

    And Other Stories Last Letter to a Reader

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn the first days of spring in his eighty-second year, Gerald Murnane – perhaps the greatest living writer of English prose – began a project that would round off his strange career as a novelist. He would read all of his books in turn and prepare a report on each. His original intention was to lodge the reports in two of his legendary filing cabinets: in the Chronological Archive, which documents his life as a whole, and the Literary Archive, which is devoted to everything he has written. As the reports grew, however, they themselves took on the form of a book, a book as beguiling and hallucinatory, in its way, as the works on which they were meant to report. These miniature memoirs or stories lead the reader through the capacious territory Murnane refers to as his mind: they dwell on the circumstances that gave rise to his writing, on images and associations, on Murnane’s own theories of fiction, and then memories of a deeply personal kind. The final essay is, of course, on Last Letter to a Reader itself: it considers the elation and exhilaration that accompany the act of writing, and offers a moving finale to what must surely be Murnane’s last work, as death approaches. Trade Review‘Has any writer ever paraded his aesthetic privacies so shamelessly? It doesn’t matter. These are the ravings of a genius. Ignore them if you dare, literature-besotted unraveller.’ Peter Craven, Australian Book Review ---- ‘The best book about Murnane’s books that anyone is ever likely to write.’ Shannon Burns, The Monthly ---- ‘When looking over the endless paddocks of his fictions, one is also looking out at the mysterious landscape of the soul.’ Dustin Illingworth, New York Times Book Review ---- ‘Murnane, a genius, is a worthy heir to Beckett.’ Teju Cole ---- ‘The emotional conviction…is so intense, the sombre lyricism so moving, the intelligence behind the chiselled sentences so undeniable, that we suspend all disbelief.’ J. M. Coetzee ---- ‘An enigmatic author, possibly the best you’ve never heard of . . . His work insists on the reality of the inner world – perhaps even its primacy.’ Melissa Harrison, Financial Times ---- ‘Immediately arresting . . . Murnane’s writing exhibits what literature should: an insight into a way of seeing that is quite unlike our own.’ John Self, Irish Times ---- ‘As with Proust, the specificities of the images he pursues and catalogues provide their own pleasure [but] the effect of his writing is less about the images themselves, and more about the way thought works in the human mind.’ Chris Power, The Guardian ---- ‘Murnane’s fantasies are many-layered, and the narration weaves between these and his mundane life in thrillingly long, lyrical sentences.” Christian Lorentzen, London Review of Books

    3 in stock

    £10.79

  • All the Sonnets of Shakespeare

    Cambridge University Press All the Sonnets of Shakespeare

    Book SynopsisIntended for all readers of Shakespeare, this beautiful and ground-breaking book arranges Shakespeare's sonnets printed in 1609 in chronological order and intersperses the sonnets from the plays among them. A lively introduction provides essential background, while explanatory notes and modern English paraphrases illuminate the sonnets' meanings.Trade Review'What a fresh and lovely idea! I've been speaking the sonnets for most of my life. They are such wonderful training for an actor, and the notes and paraphrases in this book are just what we all need to guide us through them.' Judi Dench'This new arrangement of Shakespeare's sonnets is a revelation. Paul Edmondson, and Stanley Wells have truly illuminated the author's themes, preoccupations and obsessions. In so doing the poems have a fresh, and startlingly clear narrative progression. Thanks to their scholarship I found myself experiencing this work as never before. There is a directness, simplicity, and humanity, which shines from the page. It was an honour to read them in this form. I hope a large audience will enjoy seeing (and hearing), this new light shone on a great literary treasure.' Kenneth Branagh'Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells have done something daring, controversial, and richly illuminating. To the 154 poems collected in the celebrated volume of Shakespeare's Sonnets they have conjoined the sonnets that appear in the plays – such as the famous lines shared by Romeo and Juliet. To these they have added a number of passages from the plays that are in effect close relations to the conventional sonnet form. The result is to break down the walls and set Shakespeare's famous sequence in a much expanded field of poetic making. But that is not all: jettisoning the order in which the sonnets first appeared in print, Edmondson and Wells arrange them in what they take to be their chronological order of composition. The result is something radical and unsettling. To make these deeply familiar poems seem unexpected and new is a significant achievement.' Stephen Greenblatt, Author of Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics and The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve'A marvellously refreshing new look at Shakespeare's devotion to the sonnet form, expanding our understanding of the published sonnets by adding those he included in the plays. The single sentence description of each sonnet is also immensely useful and helpful to even the most seasoned reader.' Gregory Doran, Royal Shakespeare Company, Artistic Director'This is a book of clarity and love which shadows the mind in time of Shakespeare the poet and in so doing brings us closer than ever before to his own awareness of the reach of his genius.' Carol Ann Duffy'All the Sonnets of Shakespeare presents a wealth of valuable material and compelling interpretations in a clear, comprehensible, and convincing style that will hold appeal not only for Shakespeare scholars and students, but for all devotees of 'the supreme poet-dramatist' and his work.' Deb Miller, DC Metro Theater Arts'A valuable project, and one which achieves what Shakespeare editions so often promise but so rarely deliver: which is to prompt a genuinely new way of looking at these familiar works.' Daniel Swift, The Spectator'What Edmondson and Wells have done is both groundbreaking and profoundly significant … whether dipping in for a brief encounter or wanting to fully immerse oneself in the entire Sonnet canon, with scholarly explication and guidance, All the Sonnets of Shakespeare is a one volume tour de force. 400 years after his death, Edmondson and Wells have breathed new life into our engagement with his poetic output and a revised understanding of the man, his motives and his responses to creative muses … I strongly recommend grabbing a copy of their book and rediscovering the Sonnets for yourself! The casual reader will be both enlightened and entertained and the scholar will be academically stimulated.' Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Yorkshire Times'… a model of editing, which scraps the conventional sentimentalities and lets us read the Sonnets as poems - explorations into worlds of possible feeling, speech and thought, rather than coded memoirs.' Rowan Williams, New Statesman, Books of the Year 2020'In putting Shakespeare's dramatic sonnets alongside the 1609 group, this edition exhibits the breadth with which he handles the form.' Molly Clark, Times Literary Supplement'This book is a gift to scholars and students … This study will prove valuable to all who specialize in Shakespearean topics.' M. H. Kealy, Choice'Exploring the sonnets hidden in some of Shakespeare's most revered plays gives a new flavour and dynamic to those characters. It draws our attention to the author's intention in each play, where he makes a character unexpectedly speak in poetry. It illuminates that moment and poses new questions. The detailed and extremely in-depth introduction strongly supports the original works and allows us to examine all of Shakespeare's sonnets in a new, exciting and precise way. I learned a lot from reading this. I hope you do too.' Lolita Chakrabarti'… this is a volume into which one can dip suggestively, creatively and repeatedly to find things new. It is, frankly, the most exciting reconception of the Sonnets since John Benson's Poems in 1640, and the same motive of making them 'serene, clear and elegantly plain' serves to intensify their drama, their diversity and their brilliance.' Jane Kingsley-Smith, Shakespeare SurveyTable of ContentsIntroduction Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; About this Volume; Sonnets; Textual Notes, All the Sonnets of Shakespeare: Literal Paraphrases, Numerical Index of Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609), Index of First Lines.

    £15.99

  • Complete Letters

    Oxford University Press Complete Letters

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisPliny's letters provide a fascinating insight into Roman life in the period 97 to 112 AD. They document politics, social life, religion, the educational system, the treatment of slaves and include a vivid description of the eruption of Vesuvius. This is a lively and sympathetic new translation.

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • The Ginny Suite

    Montez Press The Ginny Suite

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £14.25

  • The Great Book of King Arthur and His Knights of

    HarperCollins Publishers The Great Book of King Arthur and His Knights of

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe most famous and influential work of English fantasy ever published, reimagined for a new generation of readers by John Matthews, one of the world's leading Arthurian experts, and illustrated by internationally acclaimed Tolkien artist, John Howe.The tales of how the boy Arthur drew the Sword from the Stone, or the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, or how the knights of the Round Table rode out in search of the Holy Grail are known and loved the world over.It all began when an obscure Celtic hero named Arthur stepped on to the stage of history, sometime in the sixth century, and oral tales led to a vast body of stories from which, 900 years later, Thomas Malory wrote the famous Morte D'Arthur.THE GREAT BOOK OF KING ARTHUR presents these well-loved stories for a modern reader, for the first time collecting many tales of Arthur and his knights either unknown to Malory or written in other languages. Here, you will read of Avenable, the girl brought up as a boy who becomes a famous knight. You will learn of Gawain''s strange birth, his upbringing amongst poor folk and his final rise to the highest possible rank Emperor of Rome. There is also the story of Morien whose adventures are as fantastic and exciting as any to be found in the pages of Malory.In addition, there are some of the earliest tales of Arthur, deriving from the tradition of Celtic storytelling. Here is the original Arthur, represented in such powerful stories as The Adventures of Eagle-Boy', and ''The Coming of Merlin'', based on the early medieval text Vita Merlini, which gives a completely new version of the great Enchanter''s story.These age-old stories, still as popular today as they were from the Middle Ages onwards, are dramatically brought to life by the luminous paintings and drawings of John Howe, whose work on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies has brought him a world-wide following.Trade Review“John Matthews new book, beautifully crafted in words and images. The writing style and structure enhances the reader's experience.”Colin Gunn “Now for an ambitious volume, ‘The Great Book of King Arthur & His Knights of the Round Table,’ the Arthurian scholar John Matthews has gone back to the well, as it were, from which Malory drew his shining pails and brought out a fresh supply.”The Wall Street Journal “John Howe’s artwork is incredible, evoking the otherworldly atmosphere that so pervades the Arthurian legends.”Amazon Review “These tales feel like they still exist in a glorious present, as if one could travel to King Arthur’s court simply by walking, and find oneself in Camelot.”Neil Gaiman

    2 in stock

    £24.00

  • Hippocrates Volume I

    Harvard University Press Hippocrates Volume I

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisVolume I of the Loeb Hippocrates presents an exemplary selection of works by or attributed to the “Father of Medicine” that illustrate his fundamental contributions to the theory, philosophy, and practice of medicine. Included are Ancient Medicine; Airs, Waters, Places; Epidemics 1 and 3; Precepts; Nutriment; and the famous Hippocratic Oath.

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Saints

    Quercus Publishing Saints

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Storyland and Wild, comes a sweeping new legendary of miracles, magic, human frailty and heroic strength. Illustrated with over thirty original paper cutouts by the author.''Jeffs writes beautifully, erring just on the right side of florid, and her linocut prints make for attractive illustrations . . . This gorgeous book should live on the bookshelves in every house that cares about the idea of Britain, what is was and where it came from'' The Times on Storyland''I have fallen so completely in love with this book; Storyland, by Amy Jeffs, just one of the finest, most covetable things around'' Katherine RundellSaints'' legends suffused medieval European culture. Their heroes'' suffering and wonder-working shaped landscapes, rituals and folk beliefs. Their tales spoke of men raised by wolves, women communing with flocks of birds and severed h

    2 in stock

    £24.00

  • Oil

    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Oil

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Black gold. Liquid sunlight. Texas tea. Oil remains the ur-commodity of our global era, having been distilled from ancient algae and marine life to turn modernity's wheels. Wars are fought over it. Some communities are displaced by its extraction, so that others may reap its benefits. But despite its heated history, few will ever see oil on the ground. Shrouded within a labyrinth of oil fields, pipelines, and manufacturies, it tends to be known only through its magical effects: the thrill of the road, the euphoria of flight, and the metamorphic allure of everything from vinyl records to celluloid film and synthetic clothing. Michael Tondre shows how hydrocarbon became today's pre-eminent power. How did oil come to structure selfhood and social relations? And to what extent is oil not only a commercial product but a cultural onesomething shaped by widely imagined

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Thucydides

    Oxford University Press Thucydides

    7 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    7 in stock

    £9.49

  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime

    Spark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen an essay is due and dreaded exams loom, this title 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.

    1 in stock

    £7.49

  • Great Tales Never End, The: Essays in Memory of

    Bodleian Library Great Tales Never End, The: Essays in Memory of

    Book SynopsisOver more than four decades J.R.R. Tolkien’s son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, published some twenty-four volumes of his father’s work, much more than his father had succeeded in publishing during his own lifetime. Standing on the mountain of his son’s colossal publishing effort and extraordinary scholarship, readers today are therefore able to survey and understand the vastness of the landscape of Tolkien’s legendarium. This collection of essays by world-renowned scholars, together with family reminiscences, sheds new light on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, his son Christopher’s unique gifts in communicating and interpreting that work and the debt owed to Christopher by the many Tolkien scholars who were privileged to work with him. What was Tolkien’s intended ending for 'The Lord of the Rings'? Did it leave echoes in the stripped-down version that was actually published? What was the audience’s response to the first ever adaptation of 'The Lord of the Rings' – a radio dramatization that has now been deleted forever from the BBC’s archives? What was the significance of the extraordinary array of doorways which confronted the hobbits as they journeyed through Middle-earth? The book is illustrated with colour reproductions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts, maps, drawings and letters and, with the kind permission of his estate, photographs of Christopher Tolkien and extracts from his works, some of which have never been seen before, making this volume essential reading for Tolkien scholars, readers and fans.Table of ContentsCONTENTS 1 Catherine McIlwaine Introduction Timeline 2 Maxime H. Pascal Eulogy delivered at Christopher Tolkien’s funeral 3 Priscilla Tolkien A Personal Memory 4 Vincent Ferré The Son Behind the Father: Christopher Tolkien as a Writer 5 Verlyn Flieger Listening to the Music 6 John Garth The Chronology of Creation: How J.R.R. Tolkien Misremembered the Beginnings of his Mythology 7 Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull ‘I Wisely Started with a Map’: J.R.R. Tolkien as Cartographer 8 Carl F. Hostetter Editing the Tolkienian Manuscript 9 Stuart D. Lee A Milestone in BBC History? The 1955-56 Radio Dramatization of The Lord of the Rings 10 Tom Shippey King Sheave and The Lost Road 11 Brian Sibley Down from the door where it began… Portal images in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Bibliography for Christopher Tolkien Notes About the Contributors Further Reading Picture Credits Index

    £34.00

  • The Uncanny

    Manchester University Press The Uncanny

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis is the first book-length study of the uncanny, an important topic for contemporary thinking on literature, film, philosophy, psychoanalysis, feminism and queer history. -- .Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsList of illustrations1. The uncanny: an introduction2. Supplement: 'The sandman'3. Literature, teaching, psychoanalysis4. Film5. The death drive6. Silence, solitude and...7. Darkness8. Night writing9. Inexplicable10. Buried alive11. Déjà vu12. The double13. Chance encounter14. Cannibalism15. Manifestations of insanity16. A crowded after-life17. To be announced18. Mole19. The 'telepathy effect'20. Phantom text21. The private parts of Jesus Christ22. Book endThe uncanny: a bibliography

    1 in stock

    £23.84

  • The History Boys Faber Drama

    Faber & Faber The History Boys Faber Drama

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisAlan Bennett''s beloved, best-known play, with a beautiful typographic cover. The best moments in reading are when you come across something a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead.As an unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys pursue sex, sport and a place at university, adolescent anarchy and staffroom rivalry provoke insistent questions about history and education.The History Boys premiered at the National Theatre, London, 2004, winning Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, Olivier and South Bank Awards. On Broadway, it received numerous awards, including six Tonys.

    3 in stock

    £10.44

  • Saturnalia Volume I

    Harvard University Press Saturnalia Volume I

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSaturnalia has been prized since the Renaissance as a treasure trove of otherwise unattested lore.

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Regimes of Historicity

    Columbia University Press Regimes of Historicity

    Book SynopsisA classical historian confronts our crises of time, radically calling into question our relations to the past, present, and future.Trade ReviewSince his classic Mirror of Herodotus, Francois Hartog has emerged as the most significant theorist of history and chronicler of our changing relationship to our own past that France has produced. In this series of meditative chapters, he takes us from the Greeks to the present once more, emphasizing how the theory of history must move from diagnosing the modern gap between expectation and experience to confronting the exigency of historical crisis today. Hartog's reflections are valuable for all humanists. -- Samuel Moyn, Columbia University In a book that should be required reading for anyone interested in history's role in contemporary society, Francois Hartog shows how unexamined assumptions about the past shape our understandings of ourselves and our place in history. -- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles Francois Hartog's pioneering work on the concept of 'regimes of historicity' makes this book a must for scholars in both the social sciences and the humanities. A distinguished classical historian, Hartog uses specific, well-chosen examples to explain how understanding regimes of historicity will allow us to better understand the conditions of possibility for producing histories and, more generally, our own relationship to time. -- Robert Morrissey, University of Chicago Francois Hartog is perhaps the most important historian of historiography today... Regimes of Historicity should be required reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future writing of history. American Historical Review Regimes of Historicity should be required reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future writing of history. Time's BooksTable of ContentsPresentism: Stopgap or New State? Introduction: Orders of Time and Regimes of Historicity Orders of Time 1 1. Making History: Sahlins's Islands 2. From Odysseus's Tears to Augustine's Meditations 3. Chateaubriand, Between Old and New Regimes of Historicity Orders of Time 2 4. Memory, History, and the Present 5. Heritage and the Present Our Doubly Indebted Present: The Reign of Presentism Notes Index

    £20.90

  • The Roman History The Reign of Augustus Penguin

    Penguin Books Ltd The Roman History The Reign of Augustus Penguin

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFollowing Rome's long road to peace after decades of civil war, Cassius Dio provides the fullest account of the reign of the first emperor in Books 50 through 60 of his Roman History.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 series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Table of ContentsRoman History: The Reign of AugustusIntroduction by John CarterBibliographical NoteAcknowledgmentsA Note on the TextThe Roman HistoryNotesChronological TableList of ConsulsKey to Place-NamesMaps1. Italy2. North-West Europe3. Germany4. South-East and Western Anatolia5. The Middle East6. North-Western Africa7. Egypt8. The Balkans9. South Russia10. Plan of Rome11. SpainIndex

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • 1606

    Faber & Faber 1606

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear traces Shakespeare''s life and times from the autumn of 1605, when he took an old and anonymous Elizabethan play, The Chronicle History of King Leir, and transformed it into his most searing tragedy, King Lear.1606 proved to be an especially grim year for England, which witnessed the bloody aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, divisions over the Union of England and Scotland, and an outbreak of plague. But it turned out to be an exceptional one for Shakespeare, unrivalled at identifying the fault-lines of his cultural moment, who before the year was out went on to complete two other great Jacobean tragedies that spoke directly to these fraught times: Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.Following the biographical style of 1599, a way of thinking and writing that Shapiro has made his own, 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear promises to be one of the most significant and accessible works on Shakespeare in the decade to come

    1 in stock

    £12.34

  • Egils Saga Penguin Classics

    Penguin Books Ltd Egils Saga Penguin Classics

    1 in stock

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

    1 in stock

    £9.99

  • Canonical Misogyny

    Edinburgh University Press Canonical Misogyny

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £81.00

  • The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

    Oxford University Press The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisAnd now I found these fancies creating their own realities, and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact''.The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym is an archetypal American story of escape from home and family which traces a young man''s rite of passage through a series of terrible brushes with death during a fateful sea voyage. But it also goes much deeper, as Pym encounters various interpretative dilemmas, at last leaving the reader with a broken-off ending that defies solution.Apart from its violence and mystery, the tale calls attention to the act of writing and to the problem of representing truth. Layer upon layer of elaborate hoaxes include its author''s own role of posing as ghost-writer of the narrative; Pym - his only novel - has become the key text for our understanding of Poe.This edition offers eight short tales which are linked to Pym by their treatment of persistent themes - fantastic voyages, gigantic whirlpools, and premature burials - or by their ironic commentary on Trade Review'a fine introduction to a fascinating writer' The Observer

    2 in stock

    £8.54

  • The Philosophy of Virginia Woolf

    Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Philosophy of Virginia Woolf

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    3 in stock

    £20.89

  • Early Greek Philosophy Volume IX

    Harvard University Press Early Greek Philosophy Volume IX

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisVolume IX of the nine-volume Loeb edition of Early Greek Philosophy includes the so-called sophists Antiphon, Lycophron, and Xeniades, along with the Anonymous of Iamblichus, the Dissoi Logoi, a chapter on characterizations of the 'sophists' as a group, and an appendix on philosophy and philosophers in Greek drama.Trade ReviewIn brief, André Laks and Glenn Most give us a brilliant and beautiful reference work that can, at the same time, be easily enough read straight through. And spending a few months doing so gives the reader almost all that she needs (perhaps along with Loeb #258, Greek Elegiac Poetry) to reconstruct for herself the origins of the discipline of philosophy. I should want any graduate student or colleague in ancient philosophy or intellectual history to acquire and make their way through it. -- Christopher Moore * Classical Journal *The publication of the Loeb Classical Library’s nine-volume set, Early Greek Philosophy, gives us a new edition of the original texts, with fresh translations. It is a monumental achievement—the result of many years of dedicated work on the part of the two editors/translators André Laks and Glenn W. Most… We owe a profound debt of gratitude to the editors/translators for their thorough and impeccable scholarship, and to the publishers for their usual high standards of production. If you can afford them, don’t hesitate: you will be all the richer for having these volumes on your shelves. -- Jeremy Naydler * Minerva *André Laks and Glenn W. Most have made available to the world of scholarship in early Greek philosophy a resource of immense value. Every study of a thinker or of an issue within the thematic ambit of Early Greek Philosophy must henceforth start by canvassing and taking into account the appropriate selections in the Loeb set. -- Alexander P. D. Mourelatos * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *The publication of a Loeb Classical Library edition of the evidence for early Greek philosophy is a major event in classical scholarship…The editors and their assistants are to be commended for their exemplary execution of such a vast and difficult task. They have succeeded in producing what is far and away the best available edition of the texts of the early Greek philosophers with accompanying English translation…More than that, their edition effectively supersedes Hermann Diels and Walter Kranz’s Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, which has long held sway as the standard edition of the Presocratics, but it only does so because Laks and Most have respectfully taken Diels-Kranz as their model…Laks and Most have set such a high standard with this work that it is hard to imagine that we will see a better general collection on early Greek philosophy in our lifetimes…Laks and Most’s philological acumen, judiciousness as editors, and excellence as translators is evident on every page. -- John Palmer * Arion *

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Aeschylus II

    The University of Chicago Press Aeschylus II

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisOffers translations of Euripides' Medea, The Children of Heracles, Andromache, and Iphigenia among the Taurians, fragments of lost plays by Aeschylus, and the surviving portion of Sophocles' The Trackers. In this title, introductions for each play offer information about its first production, plot, and reception in antiquity and beyond.

    1 in stock

    £12.00

  • Odes and Epodes

    Harvard University Press Odes and Epodes

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe poetry of Horace (born 65 BC) is richly varied, its focus moving between public and private concerns, urban and rural settings, Stoic and Epicurean thought. His Odes cover a wide range of moods and topics. Love and political concerns are frequent themes of the Epodes.

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Four Gothic Novels

    Oxford University Press Four Gothic Novels

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisMacabre and melodramatic, set in haunted castles or fantastic landscapes, Gothic tales became fashionable in the late eighteenth century with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). Crammed with catastrophe, terror, and ghostly interventions, the novel was an immediate success, and influenced numerous followers. These include William Beckford's Vathek (1786), which alternates grotesque comedy with scenes of exoticmagnificence in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to damnation. The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest, set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid. Frankenstein (1818, 1831) is Mary Shelley's disturbing and perennially popular tale of young studentwho learns the secret of giving life to a creature made from human relics, with horrific consequences.This collection illustrates the range and the attraction of the Gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • A Companion to the Iliad Phoenix Books

    The University of Chicago Press A Companion to the Iliad Phoenix Books

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWillcock provides a line-by-line commentary that explains allusions and Homeric conventions that a student or general reader could not be expected to bring to an initial encounter with the Iliad.

    1 in stock

    £19.00

  • Uncle Vanya

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Uncle Vanya

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisA masterpiece of Russian drama, now in a student editionTrade ReviewIt is the element of might-have-been in Chekhov's characters that makes their sense of waste so tragic ... I know of no more moving climax in world drama. * Guardian *Michael Frayn has left his signature upon our contemporary enjoyment of Chekhov...this Uncle Vanya possesses all the scrupulous, subtly idiomatic life we have come to expect from his hand, allied with - and this is the true mark of Frayn - a fine sense of Chekhovian complexity. * Spectator *

    4 in stock

    £11.91

  • Le Morte Darthur

    WW Norton & Co Le Morte Darthur

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe text is unabridged, with original spelling and extensive, easy-to-use marginal glosses and footnotes.

    1 in stock

    £13.99

  • The Falls

    HarperCollins Publishers The Falls

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA tale of murder, loss and romance in the mist of Niagara Falls: it is the crowning achievement of Joyce Carol Oates's career to date.A man climbs over the railings and plunges into Niagara Falls. He''s a newly-wed, and his bride has been left behind in the honeymoon suite the morning after their wedding. For two weeks, Ariah, the deserted bride, waits by the side of the roaring waterfall for news of her husband''s recovered body. During her vigil, an unlikely new love story begins to unfold when she meets a wealthy lawyer who is transfixed by her strange, otherworldly gaze. So it all begins, in the 1950s, with the dark foreboding of the Falls as the sinister background to the tragedy.From this cataclysmic event unfurls a drama of parents and their children; of secrets and sins; of lawsuits, murder and, eventually redemption. As Ariah's children learn that their past is enmeshed with a hushed-up scandal involving radioactive waste materials, they must confront not only their personal history but America's murky past: the despoiling of the American landscape and the corruption and greed of the massive industrial expansion of the 1950s and 1960s.This novel of tremendous sweep and pace is about the American family in crisis but also about America itself in the mid-20th century. This book alone places Joyce Carol Oates definitively in the company of the Great American Novelists.Trade Review'Eminently readable and though full of heart is utterly heartbreaking.' Vogue 'Oates offers a shrewd, often chilling analysis of an unhappy marriage…[she] deftly widens her focus to…Niagara, corrupt and dangerously polluted.' Sunday Times 'If you only read one new novel this autumn, make it this… you'll be hooked within pages' Mail on Sunday '…engaging…compelling…a flair for the minutiae of character…' Guardian 'The Falls is a swirling cataract of invention, and a mesmerising read.' Daily Telegraph

    1 in stock

    £13.49

  • Skills for Effective Writing Level 3 Students

    Cambridge University Press Skills for Effective Writing Level 3 Students

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisSkills for Effective Writing teaches these skills, such as coherence and using sources, and offers extensive practice opportunities. When students master discrete skills, all of their writing improves. This allows teachers to focus their time and feedback on the content of student work.

    2 in stock

    £30.25

  • Anthony and Cleopatra The Oxford Shakespeare

    Oxford University Press Anthony and Cleopatra The Oxford Shakespeare

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn its towering central characters, vast geographical and historical sweep, and its variety of style and mood, Anthony and Cleopatra is perhaps the most ambitious of Shakespeare''s designs. Yet the degree and nature of its success remain surprisingly contentious, and performances of the play have seldom matched the extravagant expectations of its admirers. Michael Neill''s wide-ranging introduction from a number of angles, including those of gender and race. He examines the sources and discusses the theatrical challenge presented by Shakespeare''s technique, with its extraordinary tensions between rhetoric and action. A full stage history further illustrates its theatrical fortunes; both here and in the extensive commentary this edition illuminates the play''s theatrical dimensions as well as the rich complexity of its poetic language. 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 Trade Review'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times

    4 in stock

    £8.54

  • Loves Labours Lost The Oxford Shakespeare

    Oxford University Press Loves Labours Lost The Oxford Shakespeare

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisLove''s Labour''s Lost, now recognized as one of the most delightful and stageworthy of Shakespeare''s comedies, came into its own both on the stage and in critical esteem only during the 1930s and 1940s, after three hundred years of neglect by the theatre and undervaluation and misuse by critics. The Introduction to this new edition pays particular attention to this process of rehabilitation. The text, based on the quarto of 1598 and taking full account of the extensive scholarly study that text has received over recent years, rests on the hypothesis that the quarto goes back, probably by way of `lost'' quarto, to an authorial manuscript representing the play in a state prior to `fair copy''. If this is so, the quarto takes on a special significance because through it we can watch Shakespeare in the act of composition, improvising, changing his mind, and revising as his play develops under his hand. The editor offers a number of new readings of difficult and disputed passages, togetheTrade Review`Hibbard lucidly expounds the intricately patterned structure of his play ... and he dispatches the largely distracting question of its 'topicality' with heartening promptness.' English Studies, Volume 72, Number 6, December 1991`This Oxford text of Love's Labour's Lost is lucidly informative, scrupulous but concise,. and in general a model of restrained and level-headed editing.' Cedric Watts, University of Sussex, Review of English Studies, Vol. 43, 8/92'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford TimesTable of ContentsList of illustrations; Introduction; The Play; The Date and `Sources'; The Text; Editorial Procedures; Abbreviations and references; Love's Labour's Lost; Appendix A: Two `False Starts'; Appendix B: Alterations to lineation; Appendix C: The music for `The Hit It'; Appendix D: The name of Armado's page; Index

    2 in stock

    £7.59

  • Crime Fiction

    Oxford University Press Crime Fiction

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisCrime fiction has been one of the most popular genres since the 19th century, but has roots in works as varied as Sophocles, Herodotus, and Shakespeare. In this Very Short Introduction Richard Bradford explores the history of the genre, by considering the various definitions of ''crime fiction'' and looking at how it has developed over time. Discussing the popularity of crime fiction worldwide and its various styles; the role that gender plays within the genre; spy fiction, and legal dramas and thrillers; he explores how the crime novel was shaped by the work of British and American authors in the 18th and 19th centuries. Highlighting the works of notorious authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Raymond Chandler -- to name but a few -- he considers the role of the crime novel in modern popular culture and asks whether we can, and whether we should, consider crime fiction serious ''literature''. 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 Reviewthe "fine dining" of literature * Ruth Ginarlis, Newbooks Magazine *This is a fine introduction to a genre that embraces humanity in its flaws and glories, and it should find its way onto the bookshelves of anyone who likes crime fiction, or fiction in general. * Ben Macnair, Nudge.com *... this tidy little read-in-an-evening item will explain and enhance your affection for murder, open your eyes to new authors and have you reaching for the bookshelves for another fix, assured that you're right in the read afterall. * Sunday Sport, Jon Wise *Table of Contents1. Origins ; 2. The two ages: Golden and Hard Boiled ; 3. Transitions ; 4. International crime fiction ; 5. Gender ; 6. Cousins of crime: spy ficiton, the thriller, and legal drama ; 7. Epilogue: Can crime fiction be taken seriously? ; Further reading ; Index

    4 in stock

    £9.49

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