Literary Criticism

"This book was crying out to be written." The Irish Times "Scandalously readable." Literary Review James Joyce's relationship with his homeland was a complicated and often vexed one. The publication of his masterwork Ulysses - referred to by The...

Authoritative, surprising, evocative and original, Shakespeare: staging the world offers a completely new approach to one of the most exceptional creative imaginations in history. While matters of religion, trade and war were being contested, the role of...

This book presents Clare's poetry exactly as he wrote it, and includes selections from his `mad' poems as well as his earlier descriptions of birds, animals and village life.Reviews`This is a good looking book, nicely presented in a clear readable type,...

Contemporary fiction has never been less contemporary. Midcentury writers tended to set their works in their own moment, but for the last several decades critical acclaim and attention have fixated on historical fiction. This shift is particularly...

Winner of the 2019 Somerset Maugham Award'A great galloping joy of a book - funny, lyrical, fast paced, heart-warming - a delicious celebration of love and life' - Rebecca Stott, author of In the Days of RainIn 1857, Elizabeth Gaskell set sail for Rome,...

Some writers build worlds. Others birth entire universes. In the decades since its publication, Frank Herbert's Dune has become arguably the best-selling and certainly the best-known science fiction novel ever written. So how did an ex-Navy newspaperman...

This collection of essays covering many aspects of Austen's life, works and historical context provides the fullest introduction in one volume to the life and times of Jane Austen. Jane Austen in Context is a generously illustrated collection of short,...

After Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet Union dismantled the enormous system of terror and torture that he had created. But there has never been any Russian ban on former party functionaries, nor any external authority to dispense justice. Memorials to...

Learn about the greatest works of literature, and the lives of those who wrote them in The Literature Book.Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Literature...

This volume offers an account of English literary culture in one of its most volatile and politically engaged moments. From the work of Milton and Marvell in the 1650s and 1660s through the brilliant careers of Dryden, Rochester, and Behn, Locke and...

"Affectionate and informative, Unearthing the Secret Garden is not unlike a garden itself, with its smooth lawns of prose and striking shows of illustration and photography." -The Wall Street JournalNew York Times bestselling author Marta McDowell has...

The Portable Poe compiles Poe's greatest writings: tales of fantasy, terror, death, revenge, murder, and mystery, including "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the...

A revealing and witty new examination of how Agatha Christie became the world's most successful and popular female playwright, including details of never-before-published scripts and stories. Agatha Christie is revered worldwide for her books...

This is the first collection to investigate Charles Dickens on his vast and various opinions about the uses and abuses of the tenets of Christian faith that imbue English Victorian culture. Although previous studies have looked at his well-known...

Shakespeare's plays have been adapted or rewritten in various, often surprising, ways since the seventeenth century. This groundbreaking anthology brings together twelve theatrical adaptations of Shakespeares work from around the world and across the...

This text of the first book of the "Aeneid" includes a detailed commentary.Book InformationISBN 9780198721178Author VirgilFormat PaperbackPage Count 264Imprint Oxford University PressPublisher Oxford University PressWeight(grams) 243gDimensions(mm) 186mm...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780684846309Author Kevin KerraneFormat PaperbackPage Count 560Imprint Pocket BooksPublisher Simon & SchusterWeight(grams) 610gDimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm *...

From Simon & Schuster, Conversations with Joseph Brodsky is Solomon Volkov's exploration of a poet's journey through the 20th century.A portrait of Nobel Prize-winning poet Joseph Brodskey is painted through fifteen years of interviews with the author,...

A Book of the Year for The Times and the Sunday Times 'The writer is the engineer of the human soul,' claimed Stalin. Although one wonders how many found nourishment in Turkmenbashi's Book of the Soul (once required reading for driving tests in...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780226115047Author Cyril ConnollyFormat PaperbackPage Count 288Imprint University of Chicago PressPublisher University of Chicago PressWeight(grams)...

What is meant by the Puritan literary tradition, and when did the idea of Puritan literature, as distinct from Puritan beliefs and practices, come into being? The answer is not straightforward. This volume addresses these questions by bringing together...

Georges Simenon's 75 novels and 28 short stories featuring Chief Inspector Jules Maigret provide us with a great deal of information about the French police detective-but only in small, episodic doses. As readers become acquainted with Maigret one detail...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780062384348Author Mikita BrottmanFormat PaperbackPage Count 288Imprint CollinsPublisher HarperCollins Publishers IncWeight(grams) 204gDimensions(mm) 201mm...

This accessible and interdisciplinary volume addresses a fundamental need in current education in language, literature and drama. Many of today's students lack the grammatical and linguistic skills to enable them to study Shakespearean and other...

Critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. The emotional power and intellectual challenge of metaphysical poetry are such that it still appeals to modern readers. This book looks at the many ways in which readers at different times...

Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" deals with character and its proper development in the acquisition of thoughtful habits directed toward appropriate ends. The articles in this unique collection, many new or not readily available, form a continuous...

This ground-breaking study fearlessly combines latest research in evolutionary psychology, historical scholarship and philosophy to answer a question that has eluded critics for centuries: what is Shakespeare's moral vision?Book InformationISBN...

The father of pastoral poetry and his Hellenistic heirs.Theocritus (early third century BC), born in Syracuse and also active on Cos and at Alexandria, was the inventor of the bucolic genre. Like his contemporary Callimachus, Theocritus was a learned...

Updated throughout, this new edition provides a clear and invaluable introduction to the study of pastoral. Terry Gifford traces the history of the genre from its classical origins through to contemporary writing and introduces the major writers and...

The greatest of the late medieval Scottish makars, Robert Henryson wrote in Lowland Scots, a distinctive northern version of English. He was profoundly influenced by Chaucer's vision of the frailty and pathos of human life. His greatest poem, and one of...

This multidisciplinary volume illustrates how representations of magic in fourteenth-century romances link the supernatural, spectacle, and morality in distinctive ways.Supernatural marvels represented in vivid visual detail are foundational to the...

Hellenistic history.The historian Polybius (ca. 200-118 BC) was born into a leading family of Megalopolis in the Peloponnese (Morea) and served the Achaean League in arms and diplomacy for many years, favoring alliance with Rome. From 168 to 151 he...

Two sisters parted. Two women blamed. Two stories reclaimed.'Required reading for fans of Circe . . . a remarkable, thrilling debut' - Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth AvenueFor millennia, two women have been blamed...

In Mysticism After Modernity, Don Cupitt argues that the extensive modern literature about mysticism has rested upon a mistake - the belief that there can be meaningful experience prior to language.About the AuthorDon Cuppitt was, for over 25 years, dean...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781250285126Author Kate KennedyFormat HardbackPage Count 336Imprint St Martin's PressPublisher St Martin's PressWeight(grams) 513gDimensions(mm) 242mm *...

This first volume of what will be a full-scale portrait presents Ezra Pound as a very determined and energetic young genius setting out to make his way both as a poet and as a force for civilization in England and America in the years before, during and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780906094143Author John F. RichardsFormat HardbackPage Count 195Imprint Gibb Memorial TrustPublisher Gibb Memorial Trust

Peeling the Onion is a searingly honest account of Grass' modest upbringing in Danzig, his time as a boy soldier fighting the Russians, and the writing of his masterpiece, The Tin Drum, in Paris.It is a remarkable autobiography and, without question, one...

A SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Winner of the Rubery Book Award 2020 (Non Fiction) Edith Nesbit is considered the inventor of the children's adventure story and her brilliant children's books influenced bestselling authors including C.S...

Stories can inspire love, anger, fear and nostalgia - but what is going on in our brains when this happens? And how do our minds conjure up worlds and characters from the words we read on the page? Rapid advances in the scientific understanding of...