ELT & Literary Studies Books

19211 products


  • The Remedies

    Pan Macmillan The Remedies

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisKatharine Towers' second collection is a book of small wonders. From a house drowning in roses to crickets on an August day, from Nerval's lobster to the surrealism of flower remedies, these poems explore the fragility of our relationship with the natural world. Towers also shows us what that relationship can aspire to be: each poem attunes us to another aspect of that world, and shows what strange connections might be revealed when we properly attend to it. The Remedies is a lyric, unforgettable collection which offers just the spiritual assuagement its title promises, and shows Towers emerging as a major poetic talent.Trade ReviewThere is so much to praise about the writing: clarity, generosity and grace. There are no barriers between poem and reader. . .[Towers] writes with a marvellously gentle wit and a metrical intelligence. . .Quite how she manages the balancing act between entertainment and something that comes close to a prayer, that catches at your throat, is beyond me * Guardian *Each of these short poems shines with soft, lyrical grace; she writes about birds, flowers and objects in clear, generous language that reaches out towards the reader, embracing and never pushing away. * Daily Mail *

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • Tempest No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student

    Union Square & Co. Tempest No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student

    2 in stock

    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 Tempest. 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

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • Hooked

    The University of Chicago Press Hooked

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"In Hooked, [Felski] examines the way we connect to novels, films, paintings and music, and argues that our enthusiasms should be an integral part of conversations about art. Only this can deliver the ‘course correction’ the humanities need, and dissolve the boundary between academic interpretation and ordinary appreciation." -- Helen Thaventhiran * London Review of Books *"The sensual stuff of culture gets under our skin, draws us in, expands our world, fashions our consciousness, sets the tone and tempo of our responsiveness to the world around us. The ‘tuning of sentiments’ is precisely the sort of phenomenal work that Rita Felski’s Hooked: Art and Attachment is suggesting that humanities scholars could and should pay attention to. . . . [Felski is] concerned with proposing the vocabularies and protocols for an approach to cultural works that are open to their immediacy, to their ability to connect us to the world, and to their intimate sociality. The project, then, is to imagine a postcritical attention to art (broadly conceived) that can hang on to our first-person response to works (which might be visceral, indifferent, traumatic, melancholic, consoling, and so on), while ensuring that such attention isn’t a flight from the social but a more capacious form of contact with it." -- Ben Highmore * New Formations *“Over the past decade, Felski has been a breath of fresh air: working to nudge literary criticism away from an exclusive focus on politics. . . Felski is not against critique, the world being what it is. She is one of the growing number of malcontents who merely want to discuss other ways in which people respond to art. . . [Hooked] is an exposé aimed at critics who disavow their personal allegiances.” -- Matthew Rubery * Public Books *"The chief virtue of Hooked is that it encourages scholars to be more honest. . . . If accepted, Felski’s proposals would lead to aesthetic engagements which speak openly about why the interaction is happening in the first place. Such honesty can only be welcomed as a step forward in that old philosophical project—namely, knowing ourselves." -- Thomas Millay * Marginalia Review of Books *"Among professors of English and comparative literature, Felski is one of the most influential scholars writing about aesthetics today. . . . Hooked: Art and Attachment picks up where The Limits of Critique leaves off by homing in on a crucial dimension of aesthetic experience discounted by critique: the attachments we form to works of art, the sources of their appeal to us, the personal growth they can excite and sustain. . . . Hooked honors this indispensable attachment to the arts and bolsters our efforts to understand and share what we care about." -- Michael Fischer * The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism *"Hooked is concerned with the phenomenological and sociological vagaries of aesthetic experience; the seemingly intangible or impenetrable nature of our attachments with art. . . . Felski’s argument—art isn’t a ‘microcosm of the world,’ but part of the ordinary fabric of sociality itself—is useful and rewarding, as is her particular interest in ‘diversifying the scales of criticism.’ Attachment is fundamental to all processes of meaning-making, in art as elsewhere. Aesthetics matter because they ‘create, or cocreate, enduring ties’ but we need methods capacious enough to reflect the messiness of this reality." -- Nell Osborne * Review 31 *“The book invites a conversation that ranges widely beyond literature; its arguments span media and its scope is expansive. . . . There are many insights in Hooked that will facilitate a productive interdisciplinary conversation about aesthetics, politics, and the future of critique.” -- Michael Gallope * nonsite.org *"In Hooked Felski examines aesthetic experience in terms of co-creation and enduring ties. . . . Using essays, memoirs, works of fiction, ethnographic research and a variety of examples from high to popular culture, Felski argues that works of art make a difference in the world and matter - they act - because they 'create, or co-create, enduring ties' . . . Hooked offers a plethora of hypotheses and a wealth of ideas to think with and to research empirically. The book will be of interest to sociologists and social theorists interested in cultural objects, emotion and aesthetic experience." -- María Angélica Thumala Olave * Theory, Culture & Society *“Rita Felski’s new book puts in place… a less counterintuitive, secluded, and priggish way of addressing art.” * Forma de Vida *“Hooked is the third in a de facto trilogy defending the varied ways in which people like and care about works of art, both inside and outside the academy and its various critical traditions. Felski argues that we write about works of art because we care about them and get pleasure from them— we're hooked!—and that examining them critically is neither the same as, nor opposed to, being hooked in other ways. Hooked provides a way forward, not only a description of what we already do or a reason to stop doing it, but a way to say more and do more." * Stephanie Burt, Harvard University *“Hooked is a marvelous achievement. It is a rousing book that returns to one of the main questions at the heart of Felski’s scholarship—how people become attached to particular works of literature or art. Hooked offers a form of reception studies that invites alliances with different schools and modes of inquiry, from book history and curation theory to biography, ethnography, and practical pedagogy. It will excite and energize readers for years to come.” * James English, University of Pennsylvania *"Foregrounding first-person accounts of aesthetic experience imbues Hooked with a particular ambient quality evocative of those environments—theater bars, the sidewalks onto which viewers spill after a movie—that thrum with the sound of people talking about their aesthetic responses." * Critical Inquiry *"Taken on its merits, and treated in the generous, open way that it advocates, Hooked is a satisfying, thought-provoking read for anyone concerned with questions about the natures of our relations to artworks and why we bother forming them." * British Journal of Aesthetics *Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1 On Being Attached Chapter 2 Art and Attunement Chapter 3 Identification: A Defense Chapter 4 Interpreting as Relating Acknowledgments Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £19.95

  • The Connell Guide To Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    CONNELL PUBLISHING LTD The Connell Guide To Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £8.54

  • A murder is announced

    HarperCollins Publishers A murder is announced

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisCollins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins hasadapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These readers have beencarefully adapted using the Collins COBUILD grading scheme to ensure that the language is at thecorrect level for an intermediate learner. This book is Level 4 in the Collins ELT Readers series. Level4 is equivalent to CEF level B2 with a word count of 20,000 26,000 words.Each book includes: Full reading of the adapted version available for free online Helpful notes on characters Cultural and historical notes relevant to the plot A glossary of the more difficult wordsAn advertisement in the local newspaper announces that there is going to be a murder this evening at Little Paddocks but this is news even to the people who live at Little Paddocks! Interested villagers and friends appear that evening perhaps it's a game, they thinkThe lights go out, there is silence, and then a gun is firedIt seems this was no game. Someone really has been murdered!

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Elizabeth Bishop: Poet of the Periphery

    Bloodaxe Books Ltd Elizabeth Bishop: Poet of the Periphery

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisElizabeth Bishop is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. When she died in 1979, she had only published four collections, yet had won virtually every major American literary award, including the Pulitzer Prize. She maintained close friendships with poets such as Marianne Moore and Robert Lowell, and her work has always been highly regarded by other writers. In surveys of British poets carried out in 1984 and 1994 she emerged as a surprising major choice or influence for many, from Andrew Motion and Craig Raine to Kathleen Jamie and Lavinia Greenlaw. A virtual orphan from an early age, Elizabeth Bishop was brought up by relatives in New England and Nova Scotia. The tragic circumstances of her life - from alcoholism to repeated experiences of loss in her relationships with women - nourished an outsider's poetry notable both for its reticence and tentativeness. She once described a feeling that 'everything is interstitial' and reminds us in her poetry - in a way that is both radical and subdued - that understanding is at best provisional and that most vision is peripheral. Since her death, a definitive edition of Elizabeth Bishop's "Complete Poems" (1983) has been published, along with "The Collected Prose" (1984), her letters in "One Art" (1994), her paintings in "Exchanging Hats" (1996) and Brett C. Millier's important biography (1993). In America, there have been numerous critical studies and books of academic essays, but in Britain only studies by Victoria Harrison (1995) and Anne Stevenson (1998) have done anything to raise Bishop's critical profile. "Elizabeth Bishop: Poet of the Periphery" was the first collection of essays on Bishop to be published in Britain, and draws on work presented at the first UK Elizabeth Bishop conference, held at Newcastle University. It brings together papers by both academic critics and leading poets, including Michael Donaghy, Vicki Feaver, Jamie McKendrick, Deryn Rees-Jones and Anne Stevenson. Academic contributors include Professor Barbara Page of Vassar College, home of the Elizabeth Bishop Papers.

    1 in stock

    £10.80

  • The Prisoner of Zenda Oxford Worlds Classics

    Oxford University Press The Prisoner of Zenda Oxford Worlds Classics

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAnthony Hope's swashbuckling romance transports his English gentleman hero, Rudolf Rassendyll, from a comfortable life in London to fast-moving adventures in Ruritania, a mythical land steeped in political intrigue. The Prisoner of Zenda has been deservedly popular as a classic of romance and adventure since its publication in 1894.Trade ReviewA hugely enjoyable rip-roaring adventure of chivalry and romance. * The New European *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Anthony Hope The Prisoner of Zenda Explanatory Notes

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • The Daphne Du Maurier Companion

    Little, Brown Book Group The Daphne Du Maurier Companion

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis'A marvellous celebration of du Maurier's life, work and cultural legacy' SARAH WATERS 'She wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense' GUARDIAN 'One of the last century's most original literary talents ' DAILY TELEGRAPH Daphne du Maurier is one of Britain's best-loved bestselling authors. Her writing captured the imagination in a way that few have been able to equal. Rebecca, her most famous novel was a huge success on first publication and brought du Maurier international fame. This enduring classic remains one of the nation's favourite books. In this celebration of Daphne du Maurier's life and achievements, today's leading writers, critics and academics discuss the novels, short stories and biographies that made her one of the most spellbinding and genre-defying authors of her generation. The film versions of her books are also explored, including Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and The Birds and Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now. Featuring interviews with du Maurier's family and a long-lost short story by the author herself, this is the indispensable companion to her work.Contributors include Sarah Dunant, Sally Beauman, Margaret Forster, Antonia Fraser, Michael Holroyd, Lisa Jardine, Julie Myerson, Justine Picardie and Minette Walters.Trade ReviewShe wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense, and she was, too, a writer of fearless originality * Guardian *One of the last century's most original literary talents * Daily Telegraph *A marvellous celebration of du Maurier's life, work and cultural legacy; an indispensable guide to the writer and her art -- Sarah WatersA storyteller of cunning and genius -- Sally BeaumanNo other popular writer has so triumphantly defied classification . . . She satisfied all the questionable criteria of popular fiction, and yet satisfied the exacting requirements of "real literature", something very few novelists ever do -- Margaret ForsterA marvellous celebration of du Maurier's life, work and cultural legacy; an indispensable guide to the writer and her art * Sarah Waters *

    1 in stock

    £12.34

  • The Pensive Citadel

    The University of Chicago Press The Pensive Citadel

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisA reflective volume of essays on literature and literary study from a storied professor. In The Pensive Citadel, Victor Brombert looks back on a lifetime of learning within a university world greatly altered since he entered Yale on the GI Bill in the 1940s. Yet for all that has changed, much of Brombert's long experience as a reader and teacher is richly familiar: the rewards of rereading, the joy of learning from students, and most of all the insight to be found in engaging works of literature. The essays gathered here range from meditations on laughter and jealousy to new appreciations of Brombert's lifelong companions Shakespeare, Montaigne, Voltaire, and Stendhal. A veteran of D-day and the Battle of the Bulge who witnessed history's worst nightmares firsthand, Brombert nevertheless approaches literature with a lightness of spirit, making the case for intellectual mobility and openness to change. The Pensive Citadel is a celebration of a life lived in literary study, and of what can be learned from attending to the works that form one's cultural heritage.Trade Review“The Pensive Citadel offers an elegiac account of a life as reader and teacher—and lover of literature who knows how to share that love.” * Peter Brooks, Yale University *“The Pensive Citadel is an engaging and persuasive plea for the central importance of literature to a well-rounded existence and a vigorous life of the mind. Brombert deftly weaves his own experiences and his changing responses to works of literature into his readings and rereadings. In this book, he successfully answers a question he often discussed with his students: Do literary works merely provide a higher form of entertainment, or is the printed word the revelation of a dialogue we carry on with ourselves? It is most emphatically both and more.” * Tess Lewis, writer, essayist, and translator *“There is an old-fashioned pleasure in reading these essays and being so intimately in the company of its witty, reflective, and deeply read author. I suggest beginning at the end with ‘The Permanent Sabbatical’ and then moving on to ‘In Praise of Jealousy?’ round the middle and then on to the rest. One cannot go wrong.” * Thomas W. Laqueur, University of California, Berkeley *"Retired Princeton University comparative literature professor Brombert reflects on his life in academia in this ruminative essay collection. . . . Brombert’s enthusiastic takes on the French classics show what made him a beloved professor, but the reverent accounts of university life and detailed discussions of navigating trends in literary criticism will hold the most appeal for fellow academics. Literature scholars will want to check this out." * Publishers Weekly *"Brombert’s book mingles memoir and what might be called literary contemplation rather than conventional academic criticism. His text is an acknowledgment of intellectual and literary debts, and he celebrates our much-abused and neglected inheritance." * The New Criterion *“The Berlin-born centenarian scholar Victor Brombert has published a swan-song anthology of essays on his teaching career and literary enthusiasms, among them Montaigne, Molière and Malraux. . . his book brings to life a bygone age with self-effacing humor and irreverence.” * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsForeword by Christy Wampole Preface Part I In Nostalgia 1 The Pensive Citadel 2 Between Two Worlds 3 What Existentialism Meant to Us 4 Cleopatra at Yale 5 “Brombingo!”—Learning from Students Part II The Ludic Mode 6 The Paradox of Laughter 7 In Praise of Jealousy? 8 On Rereading Part III The French Connection 9 Lessons of Montaigne 10 The Audacities of Molière’s Don Juan 11 The Bitterness of Candide 12 Encounters with Monsieur Beyle 13 Baudelaire: Visions of Paris 14 The Year of the Eiffel Tower 15 Malraux and the World of Violence Part IV The Exit 16 The Permanent Sabbatical Acknowledgments Index

    2 in stock

    £19.00

  • What Jane Austens Characters Read and Why

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC What Jane Austens Characters Read and Why

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe first detailed account of Austen's characters' reading experience to date, this book explores both what her characters read and what their literary choices would have meant to Austen''s own readership, both during her life and today.Jane Austen was a voracious and extensive reader, so it''s perhaps no surprise that many of her characters are also readersfrom Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice to Fanny Price in Mansfield Park. Beginning by looking at Austen's own reading as well as her interest in readers' responses to her work, the book then focuses on each of her novels, looking at the particulars of her characters' reading and unpacking the multiple (and often surprising) ways in which what they read informs our reading. What Jane Austen's Characters Read (and Why) uses Austen''s own love of reading to invite us to rethink the ways in which she imagined her characters and their lives beyond the novels.

    2 in stock

    £16.19

  • Walter Benjamin

    Verso Books Walter Benjamin

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis momentous study of Benjamin’s critical practice marks a sea change in Eagleton’s thought. Its goal is not merely to contemplate Benjamin’s approach to language, history, and art but to chart a dynamic new course for contemporary socialist criticism. To do this, Eagleton brushes Benjamin’s Trauerspiel against seventeenth-century British literature, tests his concept of the ‘aura’ against Freud and Lacan, and undertakes his most sustained engagement with Derrida and the political crossroads of deconstruction.

    2 in stock

    £13.93

  • The Possibility of Literature

    Cambridge University Press The Possibility of Literature

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Possibility of Literature is an essential collection from one of the most powerful and distinctive voices in contemporary literary studies. Bringing together key compositions from the last twenty-five years, as well as several new pieces, the book demonstrates the changing fate of literary thinking over the first decades of the twenty-first century. Peter Boxall traces here the profound shifts in the global conditions that make literature possible as these have occurred in the historical passage from 9/11 to Covid 19. Exploring questions such as ''The Idea of Beauty'', the nature of ''Mere Being'', or the possibilities of Rereading, the author anatomises the myriad forces that shape the literary imagination. At the same time, he gives vivid critical expression to the imaginative possibilities of literature itself ? those unique forms of communal life that literature makes possible in a dramatically changing world, and that lead us towards a new shared future.

    1 in stock

    £28.49

  • A Date with Language: Fascinating Facts, Events

    Bodleian Library A Date with Language: Fascinating Facts, Events

    Book SynopsisIn this ingenious and diverse collection of 366 stories, events and facts about language, David Crystal presents a selection of insights from literary and linguistic writers, poets and global institutions, together with the weird and wonderful creations of language enthusiasts to enliven each day of the year. The day-by-day treatment illustrates the extraordinary breadth of the subject, from ‘Morse Code Day’ to ‘Talk Like William Shatner Day’, from forensic phonetics used to catch serial killers to heroines of speed reading, and covers writers from many different eras and cultures, including William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, R. K. Narayan, Wole Soyinka and many more. Some days focus on pronunciation, orthography, grammar or vocabulary. Others focus on the way language is used in science, religion, politics, broadcasting, publishing, the Internet and the arts. There are days that acknowledge the achievements of language study, such as in language teaching, speech therapy, deaf education and forensic science, as well as technological progress, from the humble pencil to digital software. Several days celebrate individual languages, such as those recognised as ‘official’ by the United Nations, but not forgetting those spoken by small communities, along with their associated cultural identities. A celebration of the remarkable creativity of all who have illuminated our understanding of language, this book is ideal for anyone wanting to add an extra point of interest to their language day.Table of ContentsPREFACE vi A DATE WITH LANGUAGE 1 APPENDIX 368 REFERENCES 369 INDEX 387

    £22.50

  • Translating Myself and Others

    Princeton University Press Translating Myself and Others

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay""One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of the Year""One of VULTURE'S 49 Books We Can't Wait to Read""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""Wonderful. . . . Through language, we come to know ourselves: Lahiri’s work shows how it is always possible to expand that knowledge."---Erica Wagner, Harper’s Bazaar UK"[Lahiri’s] observations are as plentiful as they are enlightening."---Juliana Ukiomogbe, Elle"[In this book] a vision emerges of translation as a site where the physical and the textual, the extraordinary and the ordinary, intersect."---Polly Barton, Times Literary Supplement"[Lahiri] is excellent. . . . Translating Myself and Others is a reminder, no matter your relationship to translation, of how alive language itself can be. In her essays as in her fiction, Lahiri is a writer of great, quiet elegance; her sentences seem simple even when they're complex. Their beauty and clarity alone would be enough to wake readers up."---Lily Meyer, NPR"[Translating Myself and Others] is about the consequences of the apparently simple act of choosing one’s own words. . . . [The] book also contains a hope for the liberating power of language."---Benjamin Moser, New York Times"[A] series of passionate [and] thoughtful essays."---Frank Wynne, The Spectator"[Translating Myself and Others] movingly describes [Lahiri’s] history with translation from her experiences as an immigrant child . . . to her early literary-translation efforts and her eventual decision to move to Rome and learn Italian." * Vulture *"Poetic." * New York Magazine *"A wry collection."---Adam Rathe, Town & Country"[Lahiri’s] voice is a strong one in the current campaign to give translators more recognition. Her candidness about the hardships of translation and her enthusiasm for its rewards make you want to hear more from these fascinating figures, who spend so much time in others’ voices but have not lost the use of their own."---Camilla Bell-Davies, Financial Times"Digestible and approachable. . . . The thought-provoking collection makes for a sharp and luminous exploration of Lahiri’s relationship to language, translation, and literature and made me want to finally tackle my goal of learning a second language."---Jordan Snowden, Apartment Therapy"[A] memoir of the experience [of learning Italian], recounted with passion and insight."---Gregory Cowles, New York Times"Lahiri explores her relationship with literature, translation, and the English and Italian languages in this exhilarating collection. . . . Lucid and provocative, this is full of rewarding surprises." * Publishers Weekly, starred review *"A scrupulously honest and consistently thoughtful love letter to ‘the most intense form of reading…there is.'" * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *"The collection is singular for Lahiri’s ability to integrate the personal and the theoretical, drawing her examples from literature and from life. . . . Lahiri writes so beautifully that this collection will have broad appeal for anyone interested in literary essays."---David Azzolina, Library Journal"[An] absorbing new collection of essays. . . . Translating Myself and Others is a subtle yet ultimately engrossing work, somewhat academic at times, yet infused with the kind of understated, often startling capacity for observation that has always been Lahiri’s literary superpower." * Bookpage *"Translating Myself and Others is a thought-provoking collection of essays about the art of modern translation." * Foreword Reviews *"Anyone interested in the art of translation will be engrossed by Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri."---Martin Chilton, The Independent"Lahiri’s ruminations on translation are relatable and luminous. . . . This book embraces simplicity-in-complexity, making it appropriate for both the Lahiri devotee and the uninitiate."---Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Christian Century"[Lahiri] explores [translation] with her customary rigor and candidness in this new essay collection, featuring several pieces originally written in Italian and translated into English by Lahiri for the first time, an act of metamorphosis as dazzling to her as it is to the reader." * Chicago Review of Books *"Throughout these essays, it’s as if Lahiri, feeling misunderstood, were hoping to build a literary home for herself that is ample enough to accommodate her lives as author, translator, academic, and language learner. A home in which she can write, on her own terms, in whatever language she wants, and think, on her own terms, about whatever subject she wants."---Julia Sanches, Astra"The essays . . . are master classes in translation theory and in critical writing about translation. . . . Fascinating and insightful writing."---Lauren Elkin, American Scholar"These essays . . . demonstrate the depths of [Lahiri’s] love for her adopted language. . . . Readers will have a newfound appreciation of the translator's ability to illuminate."---Michael Margas, Shelf Awareness starred review"In this collection of essays, Lahiri gives insights into her processes, as well as penetrating and perceptive thoughts on the act of translating that will be especially illuminating for readers who enjoy translated works."---Joe Rubbo, Readings"This cool, detached book bristles with life and love."---John Self, Observer New Review"There is great joy and intrigue to be found in Lahiri’s ruminations on self-translation. . . . [Translating Myself and Others] is a love letter to not only translation, but to literary criticism as a whole.”—Malavika Praseed, Chicago Review of Books"---Malavika Praseed, Chicago Review of Books"[A] portrait of intelligent, sensitive and deeply humane curiosity . . . inspiring."---James Kidd, South China Morning Post"[T]his latest set of essays proves [Lahiri’s] skill lies in the craft of experimenting with what language can do, both in Italian and English, and both as a writer and as a translator."---Anandi Mishra, Frieze"Translating Myself and Others feels at once ambitious and safe, playful and formulaic, variegated and quasi-myopic."---Carolina Iribaren, Hopscotch Translation"[In Translating Myself and Others] Lahiri achieves the task of portraying her profound love for linguistics and the ways languages give new life to one another in translation. . . . Lahiri’s writing is impeccably strong."---Amanda Janks, Zyzzyva"Readers . . . will find themselves immersed in a voyage of discovery not just of what makes Lahiri the writer and the translator tick, but of how these two facets or ‘containers’ inform, extend, challenge and ultimately re-create her, while at the same time providing much food for thought for the reader."---Lilit Žekulin Thwaites, Sydney Morning Herald"These deeply thoughtful meditations . . . illuminate the art of literary alchemy." * Saga Magazine *"Eloquent. . . . [Lahiri] explores what it means to be a translator, how translating enhances her identity as a writer and vice versa, and how these multiple identities are mutually enriching"---Hayley Armstrong, In Touch"A lyrical meditation on translation and a manifesto establishing translation as an artistic pursuit as creative and authentic as writing in the original language."---Lopamudra Basu, World Literature Today"Anyone interested in the challenges of translating literary works from one language to another will find this book fascinating. . . . It’s certainly a richly rewarding [read]."---Terry Freedman, Teach Secondary"A deep meditation on the art of translation. . . . Lahiri offers a straightforward but profound and lyrical theory of translation."---Lucky Issar, Economic & Political Weekly"A lucid and engaging reflection not only on what it means to translate a text and to properly acknowledge that work, but also what translation signifies beyond the act of individual words being noted down in another language."---Franklin Nelson, Wasafiri Magazine"Rich, deep and, above all, beautifully written, Translating Myself and Others exemplifies the power of words, language, art, ‘‘to explore the phenomenon and the consequences of change itself’’."---Cushla McKinney, Otago Daily News

    £12.34

  • Oneworld Publications The Great White Bard

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisShakespeare: increasingly irrelevant or lone literary genius of the Western canon?Trade Review'Vivid… a thorough analysis but also a kind of love letter… Karim-Cooper sees Shakespeare as holding a mirror to this society, with his plays interrogating live issues around race, identity and the colonial enterprise. Her critique is at its most absorbing and original when she shows how complicated his approach was… Her arguments come to feel essential and should be absorbed by every theatre director, writer, critic, interested in finding new ways into the work.’ —Guardian'Anyone reading the contents page alone of Dr Farah Karim-Cooper's The Great White Bard will have their minds blown. Dive in and your whole cultural landscape will be refreshed and reframed. A book of great scholastic yet accessible detail, demanding that we pay attention with new understanding to the work of our greatest playwright, to the staging of that work and its unacknowledged impact on the 21st-century lives of all of us who unwittingly absorb its cultural norms – for good and ill. A challenging, riveting read, The Great White Bard reminds us how powerful the stories we tell can be on our lives.' —Adjoa Andoh'This glorious book… is insightful, passionate, piled with facts and has a warm, infectious love for theatre and Shakespeare running through every chapter. Thank you to Farah Karim-Cooper for underlining the fact that we all have a right to claim Shakespeare’s work.' —Adrian Lester CBE'Farah Karim-Cooper has long been at the center of conversations about race in Shakespeare’s plays, drawing on her experiences as a woman of color, director of research and education at the Globe Theatre, and Shakespeare professor. The Great White Bard is a powerful and illuminating result of this sustained engagement, grappling with how Shakespeare can be reimagined as a playwright who speaks to (and is spoken by) those excluded from the dominant culture. Historically grounded, engagingly written, richly informed by stage history, and always attuned to the "form and pressure" of our time, The Great White Bard could not be more timely.' —James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare'There are plenty of books on Shakespeare: but this one is different. This is Shakespeare as we’ve (most of us) never been willing to see him – and the works emerge from the analysis as newly complicit, powerful and yet recuperative.' —Emma Smith, author of Portable Magic'The Great White Bard is conscientiously constructed and vitally important. The book is pitched perfectly for the general reader, and it provides clear and compelling models for how to read Shakespeare with race in mind.' —Ayanna Thompson, author of Blackface'The Great White Bard contributes to an essential discussion on Shakespeare and race, one that must include literary scholars, historians, etymologists, audiences and, yes, even actors. Let us all debate and think critically about the issues Karim-Cooper raises. At the end of the day, such tough love can guide us to truly love Shakespeare.' —New York Times'Suffused with genuine passion.' —The Times‘She concludes… “We all have the right to claim the Bard.” Amen to that.’ —Daily Telegraph'Insightful… Karim-Cooper’s chapter on Antony and Cleopatra tackles with clarity and energy the question of why the Queen of Egypt's racial difference, though flagged in the text, has been consistently ignored in the play’s production history until quite recently… Karim-Cooper provides a good discussion of Othello and a helpfully provocative reading of The Tempest.' —New Statesman‘[The book] opens up territory that [Karim-Cooper] explores with unfailing dexterity. Karim-Cooper thus puts herself in dialogue with much of the excellent work on Shakespeare and race published over the past 30 years. Still, the examination of Shakespearean drama through the lens of race has seldom been achieved with the verve, clarity and attention to textual detail that she displays here. Her love for the plays is everywhere apparent.’ —Prospect'Farah Karim-Cooper's analysis comes from a wide and fascinating perspective. This is an accessible yet scholarly book guiding the reader through essential questions about race, gender and so much more in Shakespeare’s plays. It is personal, refreshing and necessary. She has helped me reframe and understand Shakespeare in a different way. Read it and learn!' —Lolita Chakrabarti OBE'The Great White Bard is essential reading for teachers, students, practitioners and artists. It makes clear why the exploration of Shakespeare’s plays must expose the 400-year-old cultural attitudes contained in them if we are to discover their real relevance and resonance. Farah Karim-Cooper has written an important, illuminating and accessible work that invites our active participation in debate about the plays; to interpret and interrogate them, not to venerate. It belongs in every Shakespeare classroom.' —Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Learning, Royal Shakespeare Company‘A bracing and illuminating read.’ —The Bookseller'The rigorous and nuanced analysis stimulates, and Karim-Cooper’s evenhanded approach refuses to excuse Shakespeare’s racism while insisting that his plays still have much to offer modern audiences. This is a vital contribution to the shelf on Shakespeare.' —Publishers Weekly, starred review'Illuminating both words and performance – [The Great White Bard is] an essential addition to Shakespeare studies.' —Kirkus, starred review

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Absalom Absalom

    WW Norton & Co Absalom Absalom

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis

    Out of stock

    £27.93

  • Spectacles and Specters: A Performative Theory of

    Fordham University Press Spectacles and Specters: A Performative Theory of

    Book SynopsisSpectacles and Specters draws on theories of performativity to conceptualize the entanglements of law and political violence, offering a radical departure from accounts that consider political trials as instrumental in exercising or containing political violence. Legal scholar Başak Ertür argues instead that making sense of the often incalculable interpenetrations of law, politics, and violence in trials requires shifting the focus away from law’s instrumentality to its performativity. Ertür develops a theory of political trials by reconstructing and building on a legacy of critical thought on Nuremberg in close engagement with theories of performativity. She then offers original case studies that introduce a new perspective by looking beyond the Holocaust trials, to the Armenian genocide and its fragmentary legal aftermaths. These cases include the 1921 trial of Soghomon Tehlirian, the 2007-21 Hrant Dink Murder Trial, and the 2015 case before the European Court of Human Rights concerning the denial of the Armenian genocide. Enabling us to capture the various modalities in which the political emerges in, through and in relation to legal forms on the stage of the trial, this focus on law’s performativity also allows us to account for how sovereign schemes can misfire and how trials can come to have unintended political lives and afterlives. Further, it reveals how law is entangled with and perpetuates certain histories of violence, rather than simply ever mastering these histories or providing closure.Table of ContentsPreface | ix Introduction | 1 Performativity and Performance • Performativity and Errancy • Rethinking the Politics of Trials • Law and Violence: An Oblique Address PART I: A PERFORMATIVE THEORY OF POLITICAL TRIALS 1 Theorizing Political Trials | 21 Kirchheimer: Setting the Parameters • Judgment on Nuremberg • Arendt: A Trial of One’s Own? • The Breach That Speaks the Bind • Shklar: “There’s Politics and Politics” • Between Atrocity and Legal Violence 2 The Form and Substance of Doing Justice: Law, Performativity, Performance | 52 Not a Profound Word • Law and Performativity • Masquerade and Fate • The Trial: Performativity and Performance 3 Sovereign Infelicities | 76 Three Scenes • Sovereign Spectacles • Sovereign Performatives? • (Mis)Reading the Performative as Performance • Derrida’s Austin: Sovereign Pretensions • Performing the (Structural) Unconscious • Undoing Sovereignty PART II: TRACING THE SPECTERS IN THE SPECTACLES 4 Ghosts in the Courtroom: The Trial of Soghomon Tehlirian | 103 Talat • Tehlirian • Enter Ghost • The Telegrams • The Haunted Hunter • The Many Lives of Tehlirian • The Politics of Haunting 5 Spectral Legacies: Legal Aftermaths of the Armenian Genocide | 131 Legal Returns • Atemporal Histories of Terror • Process unto Oblivion • “Genocide” as Counter-Memory 6 Law of Denial: The Armenian Genocide before the European Court of Human Rights | 156 The Envoy • The Judge, The Historian, and the Politician • Judging the Presence of the Past Conclusion | 175 Acknowledgments | 187 Notes | 191 Index | 223

    £23.39

  • Introducing the Medieval Swan

    University of Wales Press Introducing the Medieval Swan

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhat comes to mind when we think of swans? Likely their beauty in domestic settings, their preserved status, their association with royalty, and possibly even the phrase ‘swan song’. This book explores the emergence of each of these ideas, starting with an examination of the medieval swan in natural history, exploring classical writings and their medieval interpretations and demonstrating how the idea of a swan’s song developed. The book then proceeds to consider literary motifs of swan-to-human transformation, particularly the legend of the Knight of the Swan. Although this legend is known today largely through Wagner’s opera, it was a best-seller in the Middle Ages, and courts throughout Europe strove to be associated as descendants of this Swan Knight. Consequently, the swan was projected as an icon of courtly and eventual royal status. The book’s third chapter looks at the swan as icon of the Lancasters, particularly important during the reign of Richard II and the War of the Roses, and the final chapter examines the swan as an important item of feasting, focusing on cookery and husbandry to argue that over time the right to keep swans became an increasingly restricted right controlled by the English crown. Each of the swan’s medieval associations are explored as they developed over time to the modern day.  Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Medieval Swan: History and Culture 2. The Swan in Literature 3. The Swan at Court 4. The Swan in Art 5. The Legacy of the Medieval Swan Bibliography

    1 in stock

    £11.39

  • Banned Books

    Dorling Kindersley Ltd Banned Books

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisImmerse yourself in the stories behind the most shocking and infamous books ever published!Censorship of one form or another has existed almost as long as the written word, while definitions of what is deemed acceptable in published works have shifted over the centuries, and from culture to culture.Banned Books explores why some of the world''s most important literary classics and seminal non-fiction titles were once deemed too controversial for the public to read - whether for challenging racial or sexual norms, satirizing public figures, or simply being deemed unfit for young readers. From the banning of All Quiet on the Western Front and the repeated suppression of On the Origin of the Species, to the uproar provoked by Lady Chatterley''s Lover, entries offer a fascinating chronological account of censorship and the astonishing role that some banned books have played in changing history. Packed with eye-opening insights

    2 in stock

    £11.69

  • Richard III

    Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies,US Richard III

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisPlaywright Migdalia Cruz breathes new life intoRichard III. Nuyorican playwright Migdalia Cruz unpacks and repositions Shakespeare'sRichard IIIfor a twenty-first-century audience. She presents a contemporary English verse translation, faithfully keeping the poetry, the puns, and the politics of the play intact, with a rigorous and in-depth examination ofRichard IIIthe man, the king, the outsiderwho is still the only English king to have died in battle. In the Wars of the Roses, his Catholic belief in his country led to his slaughter at Bosworth's Field by his Protestant rivals. In reimagining this text, Cruz emphasizes Richard III's outsider statusexacerbatedby his severe scoliosis, which twisted his spineby punctuating the text with punk music from 1970s London. Cruz's Richard is no one's fool or lackey. He is a new kind of monarch, whose dark sense of humor and deep sense of purpose leads his charge against the society which never fully accepted him because he looked different.

    2 in stock

    £7.60

  • Elegies of Chu

    Oxford University Press Elegies of Chu

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisElegies of Chu (in Chinese, Chuci), one of the two surviving collections of ancient Chinese poetry, is a key source for the whole tradition of Chinese poetry. Because the elegies contain passionate expressions of political protest as well as shamanistic themes of magic spells and wandering spirits, they present an alternative face of early Chinese culture; one that does not align with orthodox Confucianism. This translation employs literary English devices in order to emphasise the original structure of these Chinese poems. It also examines the extraordinarily vivid diction of the source texts, including of onomatopoeia, ornate descriptions, exotic flowers, dramatic landscapes, metaphors and startling similes. This translation will be based on the original anthology compiled in the Han dynasty by Wang Yi (2nd century CE), and contains a selection of poems that were collected from the 3rd century BCE through the Han dynasty. The anthology provides readers with an understanding of Chinese literature and its evolution from free-spirited, mythico-religious songs to the more formal, polished style of the Han court.Trade ReviewThe harmony of erudition and elegance of Williams' renditions will allow his translation to become the standard English version of the Chuci text for years to come. * William H. Nienhauser, Jr., Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction A Note on the Translation Select Bibliography Timeline 1: Sublimating Sorrow (Li sao) 2: Nine Phases 3: Nine Songs 4: Heavenly Questions 5: Nine Avowals 6: Far Roaming 7: Divination 8: Fisherman 9: Summons to the Recluse 10: Summons to the Soul 11: Nine Longings 12: Seven Remonstrances 13: Nine Threnodies 14: Lamenting Time's Fate 15: Rueful Oath 16: Greater Summons 17: Nine Yearnings Explanatory Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • Down and Out in Paris and London

    Oxford University Press Down and Out in Paris and London

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis new edition of Orwell's 1933 text comes with an authoratative introduction, explanatory notes, and a select bibliography to help first-time readers situate the novel in it's contexts and offer a fresh new re-evaluation of the work to returning readers.

    2 in stock

    £8.54

  • Shakespeare in a Divided America

    Faber & Faber Shakespeare in a Divided America

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisA BBC Radio 4 Book of the WeekExcellent.' New StatesmanOutstanding.' Irish TimesEnthralling.' GuardianShapiro at his best.' Daily Telegraph From the author of 1599, a fresh perspective on the history of the United States and a timely reminder of Shakespeare's indelible influence.Shakespeare's position as England's national poet is unquestionable. But as James Shapiro illuminates in this revelatory new history, Shakespeare has long held an essential place in American culture too. Why, though, would a proudly independent republic embrace England's greatest writer? Especially when his works enact so many of America's darkest nightmares: interracial marriage, cross-dressing, same-sex love, tyranny and assassination? Shapiro leads us to fascinating answers and startling stories.

    7 in stock

    £10.44

  • Death By Shakespeare

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Death By Shakespeare

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA deep dive into the science behind the creative ways Shakespeare killed off his characters.William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions shock, sadness, fear that they did more than 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. But how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the knowledge to back them up?In the Bard's day death was a part of everyday life. Plague, pestilence and public executions were a common occurrence, and the chances of seeing a dead or dying body on the way home from the theatre were high. It was also a time of important scientific progress. Shakespeare kept pace with anatomical and medical advances, and he included the latest scientific discoveries in his work, from blood circulation to treatments for syphilis. He certainly didn't shy away from portraying the reality of death on stage, from the brutal to the mundane, and the spectacTrade ReviewHarkup’s enjoyable and informative survey presents this somatic Shakespeare for the Horrible Histories generation. * Times Literary Supplement *Were I a school-teacher introducing phone-addicted teens to Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet, I'd go in big on Shakespeare's 'violent delights'. * Daily Mail (4 stars) *Well-written and intriguing, the book provides a rich behind-the-scenes look at science and historical fact, using the focus on death to deepen understanding of Shakespeare’s life and work. * Historical Novel Society *The author of A Is for Arsenic and Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein continues her macabre cultural musings with an immensely readable roundup of Shakespearean death. * Smithsonian Magazine *Death By Shakespeare is a macabre but fascinating read, rich in historical context, scientific insight, and intriguing asides. * Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine *Harkup serves a delectable stew of history, science and wit that is sure to sate the appetite of any Anglophile. * Booklist *Serious scholarship meets horrid histories. Kathryn Harkup located Death by Shakespeare within the contexts of science and medicine, health and safety, crime and punishment, and in the process gives us tour de force descriptions of Juliet's deep coma, Cleopatra's asp, Ophelia's drowning and the carnage at Agincourt, among other celebrated exits. It's a good read – never morbid, and full of insights into the Tudor way of death and how far we've come. -- Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, cultural historian, writer and broadcasterLight enough to be a quick read for fun but hefty enough to educate, this is a book that any student would be happy to study for a class, and it’s a solid addition to any nonfiction or Shakespearean fan’s collection. Yet again, Harkup has delivered a satisfying, sterling examination of an iconic figure’s literary contributions to history. * Criminal Element *Table of ContentsI shall offend, either to detain or give it. The contents, as in part I understand them, are to blame. King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2 Prologue Chapter 1: Our Humble Author Chapter 2: All the World’s a Stage Chapter 3: Will You Be Cured of Your Infirmity? Chapter 4: Off With His Head! Chapter 5: Murder, Murder! Chapter 6: The Dogs of War Chapter 7: A Plague O’both Your Houses! Chapter 8: Most Delicious Poison Chapter 9: To Be, or Not to Be Chapter 10: Excessive Grief the Enemy to the Living Chapter 11: Exit Pursued by a Bear Epilogue Appendix Bibliography Acknowledgements Index

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • ReMarks on Power

    MIT Press ReMarks on Power

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £34.20

  • Genius and Ink

    HarperCollins Publishers Genius and Ink

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFOREWORD BY ALI SMITHWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY FRANCESCA WADEWho better to serve as a guide to great books and their authors than Virginia Woolf?In the early years of its existence, the Times Literary Supplement published some of the finest writers in English: T. S. Eliot, Henry James and E. M. Forster among them. But one of the paper's defining voices was Virginia Woolf, who produced a string of superb essays between the two World Wars.The weirdness of Elizabethan plays, the pleasure of revisiting favourite novels, the supreme examples of Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot and Henry James, Thomas Hardy and Joseph Conrad: all are here, in anonymously published pieces, in which may be glimpsed the thinking behind Woolf's works of fiction and the enquiring, feminist spirit of A Room of One's Own.Here is Woolf the critical essayist, offering, at one moment, a playful hypothesis and, at another, a judgement laid down with the authority of a twentieth-century Dr Johnson. Here is Woolf working out precisely what's great about Hardy, and how Elizabeth Barrett Browning made books a substitute for living because she was forbidden to scamper on the grass. Above all, here is Virginia Woolf the reader, whose enthusiasm for great literature remains palpable and inspirational today.

    1 in stock

    £8.54

  • Textual analysis for English Language and

    Hodder Education Textual analysis for English Language and

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisBuild confidence in a range of key textual analysis techniques and skills with this practical companion, full of advice and guidance from experienced experts.- Build analysis techniques and skills through a range of strategies, serving as a useful companion throughout the course - from critical-thinking, referencing and citation and the development of a line of inquiry to reflecting on the writing process and constructing essays for Paper 1 and Paper 2- Develop skills in how to approach a text using textual analysis strategies and critical theory, for both unseen texts (the basis of Paper 1) and texts studied in class- Concise, clear explanations help students navigate the IB requirements, including advice on assessment objectives and how literary and textual analysis weaves through Paper 1, Paper 2, the HL Essay, Individual Oral and the Learner Profile- Build understanding in how to approach texts so that students can write convincingly and passionately about texts through active reading, note-taking, asking questions, and developing a personal response to texts - Engaging activities are provided to test understanding of each topic and develop skills for the exam - guiding answers are available to check your responses

    4 in stock

    £26.97

  • New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick

    Oxford University Press Inc New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Hsu-Tang Library presents authoritative and eminently readable translations of classical Chinese literature, in bilingual editions, ranging across three millennia and the entire Sinitic world.New Tales Told While Trimming the Wick by the talented scholar and poet of the Ming dynasty, Qu You (1347-1433), was the first work of fiction officially banned in China, but also the first internationally acclaimed collection of Chinese short stories. These tales often seem quite modern in their character development and plot intricacies, with characters facing ethical and moral challenges that are just as difficult to navigate today as they were over six hundred years ago. This collection is a crucial and delightful bridge between the classical tales of the Tang dynasty and Pu Songling''s famous Strange Tales from Liaozhai in the Qing. Despite being fiction filled with supernatural elements, New Tales offers fascinating insights into the life and society of China during the turbulent transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Translated in full for the first time, with a contextual introduction to the stories and their author, historical and literary annotations to aid the reader, and bibliographical support, this volume introduces a collection of tales that have had a profound influence on literature across all of Asia.

    2 in stock

    £21.84

  • Lit Stitch

    Abrams Lit Stitch

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisSavvily combines literary themes and cross-stitch designs in [a] visually appealing collection of projects . . . delightful. Publishers WeeklyInside Book Riot''s Lit Stitch, you'll find a number of badass, bookish cross-stitch patterns to let you show off your love of all things literary. Some are for bookmarks, others are for wall decor, and still others can take on a whole host of finished outcomes. What they have in common is their literary bentthe patterns speak to all manner of literary-minded book lovers, who are happy to display their nerdier sides. And what better way than through your own cross-stitch art to hang on your wall, prop on your desk, or even gift to friends and family?Most if not all are beginner-friendly and can be completed in a few hoursinstant stitchification! So grab yourself some excellent embroidery floss, hoops, and needles, and pick out one or more of these great cross-stitch patterns for your next project.

    2 in stock

    £12.59

  • The Essential Peirce Volume 1

    Indiana University Press The Essential Peirce Volume 1

    Book SynopsisFeatures important philosophical papers of the brilliant American thinker Charles Sanders Peirce. This volume presents twenty-five key texts, chronologically arranged, beginning with Peirce's "On a New List of Categories" of 1867, and ending with the systematic presentation of his evolutionary metaphysics in the "Monist Metaphysical Series".

    £21.59

  • Macbeth

    Union Square & Co. Macbeth

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisBased on the?'No Fear Shakespeare'?translations, this dynamic graphic novel ? now with colour added ? is impossible to put down. The illustrations are distinctively offbeat, slightly funky and appealing to teens.

    3 in stock

    £10.44

  • Lost Realms Histories of Britain from the Romans

    HarperCollins Publishers Lost Realms Histories of Britain from the Romans

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis''A beautiful, beautiful book . . . archaeology is changing so much about the way we view the so-called Dark Ages [Williams] is just brilliant at bringing them to light'' Rory Stewart on The Rest is PoliticsFrom the bestselling author of Viking Britain, a new epic history of our forgotten past.As Tolkien knew, Britain in the Dark Ages' was a mosaic of little kingdoms. Many of them fell by the wayside. Some vanished without a trace. Others have stories that can be told.ELMET. HWICCE. LINDSEY. DUMNONIA. ESSEX. RHEGED. POWYS. SUSSEX. FORTRIU.In Lost Realms, Thomas Williams, bestselling author of Viking Britain, uncovers the forgotten origins and untimely demise of nine kingdoms that hover in the twilight between history and fable, whose stories hum with saints and gods and miracles, with giants and battles and the ruin of cities. Why did some realms like Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and Gwynedd prosper while these nine fell?From the Scottish Highlands to the Cornish coastline, from the Trade Review PRAISE FOR LOST REALMS ‘Sceptical, scrupulous, written with wit and flair’Financial Times ‘This brilliant history of Dark Age Britain mixes serious scholarship with nods to pop culture, from Tolkien to The Wicker Man… Lost Realms is a joy to read’The Telegraph, FIVE STAR REVIEW ‘Williams makes a compelling guide as he steers us through the darkness’ Spectator ‘Williams has a fine command of the literary, administrative, religious and archaeological sources of early medieval Britain. He is a diligent scholar and a likeable writer’ Sunday Times ‘Rich and captivating’ TLS ‘The book is beautifully written, pushing at the very limits of our ability to understand the early medieval world’ British Archaeology ‘In recovering what he can of the near-vanished histories of Britain’s lost realms, Williams has done an admirable job, evoking the spirit of an age that was both chaotic and creative, from the ferment of which England and ultimately Britain emerged. It is a gift indeed to be reminded that Dumnonia, Lindsey, Fortriu, Hwicce, Elmet and Rheged – faint ghosts of places though they may now seem – made their own contributions to what we are today’ Literary Review 'Thomas Williams has blended a potent brew of mythic and material fragments to raise forgotten kings & queens (and their stories) from the grave. An historian not afraid of the dark and with eyes adapted to it – what he sees is assessed sagely and described beautifully'Christopher Hadley, author of Hollow Places

    3 in stock

    £22.50

  • Sense and Sensibility

    HarperCollins Publishers Sense and Sensibility

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.I wish as well as every body else to be perfectly happy; but like every body else it must be in my own way.'When the Dashwood family are forced into more modest circumstances, sisters Marianne and Elinor also find themselves suddenly entangled in matters of the heart. Passionate and spirited, young Marianne falls for the charming but unreliable Mr Willoughby. Elinor, by contrast rational and sensible, forms a close bond with Edward Ferrars, but must cope stoically with the news that he is promised to another. Only through their shared experiences of love and loss do both sisters learn that the key to happiness comes from finding the perfect mixture of rationality and feeling.Sense and Sensibility was Jane Austen's first published work when it appeared in 1811. It has become one of her best-loved novels and has been the subject of several adaptations for film and television.

    2 in stock

    £6.99

  • THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS Kenneth Grahame Collins

    HarperCollins Publishers THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS Kenneth Grahame Collins

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.There is nothing absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'One spring day in the idyllic English countryside, Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger embark on a series of escapades. From Ratty's exploits on the river to Toad's passion for motorcars and the invasion of Toad Hall by the stoats and weasels, these woodland friends encounter adventure at every turn.A timeless and celebrated classic, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows has endured for nearly 100 years, and continues to delight readers of all ages.

    2 in stock

    £6.99

  • Girl With Dove A Life Built By Books

    HarperCollins Publishers Girl With Dove A Life Built By Books

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe word mesmerising is frequently applied to memoirs, but seldom as deservedly as in the case of Girl With Dove' Financial TimesReading is a form of escape and an avid reader is an escape artist'Brilliantly original, funny and clever Honor Clark, Spectator, Book of the YearGrowing up in a dilapidated house by the sea where men were forbidden, Sally's childhood world was filled with mystery and intrigue. Hippies trailed through the kitchen looking for God their leader was Aunt Di, who ruled the house with charismatic force. When Sally's baby brother vanishes from his pram, she becomes suspicious of the activities going on around her. What happened to Baby David and the woman called Poor Sue? And where did all the people singing and wailing prayers in the front room suddenly go?Disappearing into a world of books and reading, Sally adopts the tried and tested methods of Miss Marple. Taking books for hints and clues, she turns herself into a reading detective. Her discovery of Jane Eyre Trade Review‘This is a very eccentric memoir … I liked it, because I was captivated by Sally Bayley's poetic light touch … Thanks to the guidance of three beloved fictional characters … who came alive in her imagination, young Sally negotiated her way through the jungle of her childhood’ The Times ‘The strangest and most striking memoir I have read in years … Her bold poetic prose carries the sinister cackle of Bertha Mason on a warm breeze through St Mary Mead, to be wafted away in comic disdain by Betsey Trotwood’ Helen Brown, Daily Telegraph ‘A testament to innocence, resilience and the protective power of the imagination …This is a story about the child’s need to make sense of chaos and the redemptive power of stories to bestow meaning … The word “mesmerising” is frequently applied to memoirs, but seldom as deservedly as in the case of Girl With Dove, a work suffused with psychological depth, literary inventiveness and subtle brilliance’ Financial Times ‘Bayley’s family are compelling, certainly, but it’s the formidable and moving lines of much-loved prose, sketched long ago in the classics, that provide much of Girl With Dove’s horsepower’ Irish Times ‘A brilliant evocation of the porousness for children between reality and fiction …The book is beautifully written … just let its poetic rhythms lap over you … it left me longing for more of Bayley's recollections from a place of relative tranquility’ Spectator ‘A moving, highly original memoir … It’s a remarkable testament to reading as a “strong torch, shining through the dark”’ The Bookseller ‘This extraordinary book … an astonishing tale, astonishingly written in clear, precise prose … Bayley is exceptionally good at bringing us into the child's world … there's a raw, visceral power to the writing, which turns the abstract physical on almost every page … the prose sings … This bold, arresting memoir is about the quest for a different kind of truth’ Sunday Times

    2 in stock

    £10.44

  • Hard Times

    HarperCollins Publishers Hard Times

    1 in stock

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

    1 in stock

    £6.02

  • Middlemarch

    HarperCollins Publishers Middlemarch

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.People glorify all sorts of bravery except the bravery they might show on behalf of their nearest neighbours'Rejecting the conventional narratives of the time, Middlemarch shows a realistic portrayal of Victorian village life. Peopling this ground-breaking work are Tertius Lydgate, a talented yet naive young doctor; Dorothea Brooke, stuck in a loveless marriage; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding shocking crimes from his past.An intricate story weaving together many lives, Middlemarch is described as one of the best-loved novels of all time and heralded as one of the few English novels written for grown-up people' by Virginia Woolf. It is a richly nuanced drama that is a quintessential English classic.

    2 in stock

    £8.54

  • Pride and Prejudice

    HarperCollins Publishers Pride and Prejudice

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisOne of the BBC''s ''100 Novels That Shaped Our World''HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'Elizabeth Bennet, full of vivacity and wit, lives a quiet country existence with her four sisters. To the delight of their mother, determined to find her daughters suitable matches, the eligible Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them dancing, wealth and opportunity. Unimpressed at first by Darcy's haughty air, Elizabeth vows to have nothing to do with him. But as she makes her own errors of judgement, the pair begin to understand each other, and come to realise that first impressions are not always as they seem.Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's best-loved tale of marriage and society in Georgian England, continues to delight modern readers with its social comedy, well-drawn characters and subtle nuances.

    1 in stock

    £7.59

  • Puss in Books

    HarperCollins Publishers Puss in Books

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisA charming collection of quotes about cats from our favourite authors, accompanied by artwork in the trademark style of Paul Magrs (author of The Panda, the Cat and the Dreadful Teddy).I love them, they are so nice and selfish' L.M. MontgomeryThis collection of quotes from the literary greats explores just why cats have fascinated, mesmerised and often infuriated writers for centuries. Celebrating the mystery of these daydreaming, snarky, selfish, watchful, contemplative and changeable creatures, Puss in Books helps cat and book lovers to understand these beings who have intrigued great thinkers and writers since the dawn of time.Quotes include:Time spent with a cat is never wasted' ColetteThose who play with cats must expect to get scratched' Miguel de CervantesIf cats could write history, their history would be mostly about cats' Eugen WeberTrade Review‘Cats are funny, feisty, loving and usually a little bit crazy. Paul has captured every one of those moods and more in his beautifully animated illustrations. Gorgeous.’ – Jane Fallon ‘This is a glorious marriage of wonderful words and illustrations. Cat-lovers everywhere will be clamouring for it.’ – Milly Johnson ‘As a lifelong cat fanatic and literature addict, this book couldn't be any more perfect for me if it tried.’ – Harper Ford ‘Famous cat quotes and Paul's paintings are the perfect match. He is one of the Kings of Cats and his book is the cat's whiskers of a cat book!’ – Antoine Laurain ‘Exquisitely beautiful and utterly fascinating.’ – Lisa Jewell ‘I read this book smiling at its wit and nodding in recognition of these universally acknowledged cat-truths that any person who is owned by cats will recognise.’ – Charlie Lyndhurst, author of The Cosy Cat Society ‘Transcending genre and age-appeal is not easy, but this delightful, freewheeling romp into the wisdom, weirdness and downright cheekiness of cat-kind does it beautifully’ – Alex Howard, author of The Ghost Cat

    2 in stock

    £11.69

  • Lady Chatterleys Lover

    HarperCollins Publishers Lady Chatterleys Lover

    2 in stock

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

    2 in stock

    £7.59

  • The Private World of Georgette Heyer

    Cornerstone The Private World of Georgette Heyer

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAs an internationally bestselling phenomenon and queen of the Regency Romance, Georgette Heyer is one of the most beloved historical novelists of our time. She''s written more than fifty novels - romances, detective stories and contemporary works of fiction - yet her private life was practically inaccessible to any but her closest friends and relatives. With this classic biography we catch a glimpse into Georgette Heyer''s world and that of her most memorable characters. With access to private papers and archives, Jane Aiken Hodge reveals a formidable, energetic woman, with an impeccable sense of style and, beyond everything, a love for all things Regency. Lavishly illustrated from Georgette Heyer''s own research files, her family archives and other Regency sources, complete with extracts from her correspondence and references to her work, The Private World is a delight and a must-read for every Georgette Heyer fan.Trade ReviewOne of the most beautiful books I know * Washington Post Book World *A fascinating biography of Georgette Heyer, one that deserves reading just as much as Heyer'snovels * Courier Mail *

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • P.G. Wodehouse A Life in Letters

    Cornerstone P.G. Wodehouse A Life in Letters

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis''Wodehouse said letters make a wonderful oblique form for an autobiography, and Sophie Ratcliffe''s expertly edited collection amply proves the point.''SpectatorOne of the funniest and most admired writers of the twentieth century, P. G. Wodehouse always shied away from the idea of a biography. A quiet, retiring man, he expressed himself through the written word. His letters - collected here - provide an illuminating biographical accompaniment to legendary comic creations such as Jeeves, Wooster, Psmith and the Empress of Blandings. This is a book every lover of Wodehouse will want to possess.''The letters, gossipy in the kindliest, amused/bemused manner, bear true witness to the wide-ranging influences on Wodehouse''s'' best-known novels and best-loved characters.''The TimesTrade ReviewWodehouse said letters make "a wonderful oblique form for an autobiography," and Sophie Ratcliffe's expertly edited collection amply proves the point. * Spectator *Anybody requiring evidence of how much work PG Wodehouse put into his comic prose should read his letters. In her introduction to this definitive compendium of Wodehouse's correspondence, Sophie Ratcliffe warns that [the letters] display only on occasions the extraordinary stylistic elan that one finds in fiction. Indeed they do, although when the extraordinary elan bubbles briefly to the surface, it is worth waiting for. But Wodehouse was a dedicated craftsman. He wanted his published words to make people laugh, and he devoted hour after hour to making them fit that purpose. One suspects his personal epistles were often a happy relief from that discipline. * Scotland on Sunday *The great catastrophe of his life was of course, his broadcasting from Berlin in 1941, a slur on his reputation that never quite went goes away however often it is expunged. The whole saga is unravelled again here in Sophie Ratcliffe's excellent linking narrative. * Daily Mail *Filtered by some excellent editing, [these letters] are full of interest * Mail on Sunday *Sophie Ratcliffe has done an exemplary job in editing these letters * Sunday Telegraph *

    2 in stock

    £17.00

  • Bright Star

    Vintage Publishing Bright Star

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DIRECTOR JANE CAMPIONJohn Keats died in penury and relative obscurity in 1821, aged only 25. He is now seen as one of the greatest English poets and a genius of the Romantic age. This collection, which contains all his most memorable works and a selection of his letters, is a feast for the senses, displaying Keats'' gift for gorgeous imagery and sensuous language, his passionate devotion to beauty, as well as some of the most moving love poetry ever written.Trade ReviewLittered with sensuous descriptions of nature's beauty, Keats's odes also pose profound philosophical questions * Sunday Telegraph *Sublime * Sunday Times *In what we call natural magic, he ranks with Shakespeare...no-one else in English poetry has...his perception of loveliness * Matthew Arnold *One of the half-dozen greatest English writers * Edmund Wilson *His letters are certainly the most notable and most important ever written by any English poet * T.S. Eliot *

    3 in stock

    £9.99

  • In His Own Write  A Spaniard in the Works

    Vintage Publishing In His Own Write A Spaniard in the Works

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SIR PAUL MCCARTNEYFirst published in 1964 and 1965, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works are a brilliantly inventive and offbeat collection of John Lennon's stories, drawings and poems.Trade ReviewLunatic humour... it defies description. It owes something to Lear's nonsense books, but from there on in Lennon is on his own... Zany, offbeat, and illustrated by his grotesque spidery pen. It jolts the reader into gusts of laughter * Guardian *Very funny... beautifully designed * Times Literary Supplement *Irresistible...the drawings are marvellous * Sunday Telegraph *Fascinating.... It goes down like pure whimsy and then back-kicks like a sick mule. * Sunday Times *Very inventive... It's all in Lennon's favour that despite the adulation and soft soap, he has remained as tough, arrogant and uncompromising * Observer *

    2 in stock

    £13.49

  • Renaissance Women Poets Penguin Classics

    Penguin Books Ltd Renaissance Women Poets Penguin Classics

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSocial convention may have prevented Renaissance women writers from openly taking part in the political and religious debates of their day, but they found varied and innovative ways to intervene. Collecting the work of three great poets-Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney, and Aemilia Lanyer-this volume repositions women writers of the Renaissance by presenting their poems in the context of their history and culture. Whitney's poems offer the only glimpse into her life, express a concern for women's lack of social and economic power, and powerfully evoke sixteenth-century London. Sidney produced potent translations of Petrarch's works and the Psalms, as well as original verse. Lanyer wrote poems that advocate and praise female virtue and Christian piety, but reflect a desire for an idealized, classless world. The strong and original voices of these three women-each from different social, cultural, and historical strata-demonstrate the emergence of a new female identity during the RenTable of ContentsEdited by Danielle ClarkeAcknowledgmentsIntroductionFurther ReadingTable of DatesA Note on the TextsIsabella Whitneyfrom A SWEET NOSGAYTo the worshipfull and right vertuous yong Gentylman, George Mainwaring Esquier...The Auctor to the ReaderCertain familier Epistles and friendly Letters by the Auctor: with RepliesTo her Brother. G.W.To her Brother. B. W.A modest meane for Maides... to two of her yonger Sisters servinge in LondonTo her Sister Misteris. A.B.To her CosenA carefull complaynt by the unfortunate AuctorIS. W. to C.B. in bewalylynge her mishappesTo my Friend Master T.L. whose good nature I see abusdeIS W. beyng wery of wrtyng, sendeth this for AnswereThe Auchtour (though loth to leave the Citie) upon her Friendes procurement, is constrained to departe...and maketh her Wyll and Testament...A comunication which the Auctor had to London, before she made her WyllThe maner of her Wyll, and what she left to London: and all those in it: at her departing***THE COPY OF A LETTER, lately written in meeter, by a yonge Gentilwoman: to her unconstant Lover...I.W. To her unconstant LoverThe admonition by the Auctor, to all yong Gentilwomen: And to al other Maids being in Love***The lamentation of a Gentilwoman upon the death of her late deceased frend William Gruffith Gent.Mary Sidney, Countess of PembrokeTHE SIDNEY PSALTER"Even now that Care"To the Angell spirit of the most excellent Sir Phillip SidneyThe Psalmes of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke***A Dialogue betweene two shepheards, Thenot, and Piers, in praise of Astrea...***THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH TRANSLATED OUT OF ITALIAN BY THE COUNTESS OF PEMBROOKEThe first chapterThe second chapterAemilia LanyerSALVE DEUS REX JUDAEORUMTo the Queenes most Excellent MajestieTo all vertuous Ladies in generallThe Authors Dreame to the Ladie Marie, the Countesse Dowager of PembrookeTo the Ladie Lucie, Countesse of BedfordTo the Ladie Margaret, Countesse Dowager of CumberlandTo the Ladie Anne, Countesse of DorcetTo the Vertuous ReaderSalve Deus Rex JudaeorumThe Description of Cooke-hamAbbreviations and Short Titles Used in the Notes and Textual ApparatusNotesTextual Apparatus

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Penguin Classics

    Penguin Books Ltd Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Penguin Classics

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe inspiration for the major motion picture The Green Knight starring Dev Patel.An early English poem of magic, chivalry and seduction Composed during the fourteenth century in the English Midlands, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the events that follow when a mysterious green-coloured knight rides into King Arthur's Camelot in deep mid-winter. The mighty knight presents a challenge to the court: he will allow himself to be struck by one blow, on the condition that he will be allowed to return the strike on the following New Year's Eve. Sir Gawain takes up the challenge, decapitating the stranger - only to see the Green Knight seize up his own severed head and ride away, leaving Gawain to seek him out and honour their pact. Blending Celtic myth and Christian faith, Gawain is among the greatest Middle English poems: a tale of magic, chivalry and seduction.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the

    4 in stock

    £8.54

  • The Greek Sophists

    Penguin Books Ltd The Greek Sophists

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisBy mid-5th century BC, Athens was governed by democratic rule and power turned upon the ability of the citizen to command the attention of the people, and to sway the crowds of the assembly. It was the Sophists who understood the art of rhetoric and the importance of transforming effective reasoning into persuasive public speaking. Their enquiries - into the status of women, slavery, the distinction between Greeks and barbarians, the existence of the gods, the origins of religion, and whether virtue can be taught - laid the groundwork for the insights of the next generation of thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle.Table of ContentsThe Greek SophistsChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the Text1. Protagoras of Abdera2. Gorgias of Leontini3. Prodicus of Ceos4. Hippias of Elis5. Antiphon6. Thrasymachus of Chalcedon7. Critias of Athens8. Euthydemus and Dionysodorus of Chios9. Alcidamas of Elaea10. The Anonymus Iamblichi and the Double ArgumentsAppendix: A Conspectus of SourcesNotesIndex of Rhetorical TermsIndex

    10 in stock

    £14.24

  • The Oresteian Trilogy Agamemnon The Choephori The

    Penguin Books Ltd The Oresteian Trilogy Agamemnon The Choephori The

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAeschylus (525-c.456 bc) set his great trilogy in the immediate aftermath of the Fall of Troy, when King Agamemnon returns to Argos, a victor in war. Agamemnon depicts the hero''s discovery that his family has been destroyed by his wife''s infidelity and ends with his death at her callous hand. Clytemnestra''s crime is repaid in The Choephori when her outraged son Orestes kills both her and her lover. The Eumenides then follows Orestes as he is hounded to Athens by the Furies'' law of vengeance and depicts Athene replacing the bloody cycle of revenge with a system of civil justice. Written in the years after the Battle of Marathon, The Oresteian Trilogy affirmed the deliverance of democratic Athens not only from Persian conquest, but also from its own barbaric past.Table of ContentsThe Oreteian TrilogyIntroductionAgamemnonThe Choephori or The Libation-BearersThe EumenidesNotes to 'Agamemnon'Notes to 'The Choephori'Notes to 'The Eumenides'AppendixSelect BibliographyThe Pronunciation of Greek NamesGenealogical Table of the House of Atreus

    1 in stock

    £10.44

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