Literary Criticism

In 1970 Katharine Briggs published in four volumes the vast and authoritative Dictionary of British Folktales and Legends to wide acclaim. This sampler comprises the very best of those tales and legends. Gathered within, readers will find an extravagance...

Hesiod, who lived in Boetia in the late eighth century BC, is one of the oldest known, and possibly the oldest of Greek poets. His Theogony contains a systematic genealogy of the gods from the beginning of the world and an account of the struggles of the...

When faced with new challenges, it's easy to feel our solutions need to be equally unprecedented. We think we need a revolution. But what if this is a big mistake? In Evolutionary Ideas, Sam Tatam shows how behavioural science and evolutionary...

One of the most powerful, perceptive and influential works of criticism in Western literary history In his near-contemporary account of classical Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that...

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's tragic history of a ruler losing his grip on power. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Richard II in...

'the glory of wealth and physical beauty is fluid and fragile; but virtue is held brilliant and eternal' The Roman historian Sallust lived through troubled times. He deplored the moral and political decline of the Republic, and in his two monographs...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781426320989Author Donna Jo NapoliFormat HardbackPage Count 208Imprint National Geographic KidsPublisher National Geographic KidsWeight(grams)...

This Norton Critical Edition collects seven different tale types, including multicultural versions and literary rescriptings. Along with the introductions and annotations by Maria Tatar are twenty-four critical essays exploring the various aspects of...

The Oxford Companion to English Literature has long been established as the leading reference resource for students, teachers, scholars, and general readers of English literature. It provides unrivalled coverage of all aspects of English literature -...

Among the best-known and most prolific French women writers of the sixteenth century, Madeleine (1520 - 87) and Catherine (1542 - 87) des Roches were celebrated not only for their uncommonly strong mother-daughter bond but also for their bold assertion...

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. When is the "beautiful game" at its most beautiful? How does football function as a lens through which so many view their daily lives? What's...

No art has been denounced as often as poetry. It's even bemoaned by poets: 'I, too, dislike it,' wrote Marianne Moore. 'Many more people agree they hate poetry,' Ben Lerner writes, 'than can agree what poetry is. I, too, dislike it and have largely...

Published in 1977 as the first volume in the New Accents series, Structuralism and Semiotics made crucial debates in critical theory accessible to those with no prior knowledge of the field. Since then a generation of readers has used the book as an...

Shakespeare and the Book Trade follows on from Lukas Erne's groundbreaking Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist to examine the publication, constitution, dissemination and reception of Shakespeare's printed plays and poems in his own time and to argue that...

Unruly Times is a superlative portrait of the relationship between Wordsworth and Coleridge, and a fascinating exploration of the Romantic Movement and the dramatic events that shaped it. With a novelist's insight and eye for detail, A. S. Byatt brings...

Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin's verse novel follows the fates of three men and three women. Engaging, full of suspense, and varied in tone, it...

A new study of Shakespeare's life and times, which illuminates our understanding and appreciation of his works. Combines an accessible fully historicised treatment of both the life and the plays, suited to both undergraduate and popular audiencesLooks at...

Ulysses is one of the foundational texts of modern literature, yet has a reputation for complexity and controversy. In Ulysses Unbound, Joyce expert Terence Killeen untangles this seemingly knotty classic to reveal the wonders beneath, in a clear and...

He needed to hear Africa speak for itself after a lifetime of hearing Africa spoken about by othersElectrifying essays on the history, complexity, diversity of a continent, from the father of modern African literature.Penguin Modern: fifty new books...

This is a story of depression a condition that reduced William Styron from a person enjoying life and success as an acclaimed writer, to a man engulfed and menaced by mental anguish. With profound insight and remarkable candor, Styron tracks the progress...

One of the founding texts of Western literature, the Metamorphoses is nevertheless anything but earnest or off-putting. Ovid's sequence of fifteen witty and playful poems sketches the history of the world from its creation to the poet's own time through...

'Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.' In The Theory of the Leisure Class Thorstein Veblen sets out 'to discuss the place and value of the leisure class as an economic factor in modern life'...

'Anyone who reads or ever read children's books - read this. It's a joy.' Irish Times 'Exhilarating.' New York Times Book Review 'Sublime.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times ** An Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian and Irish Times Book of...

Pippi Longstocking is nine years old. She has just moved into Villa Villekulla where she lives all by herself with a horse, a monkey, and a big suitcase full of gold coins. The grown-ups in the village try to make Pippi behave in ways that they think a...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781910251003Author Richard ZenithFormat PaperbackPage Count 319Imprint Dedalus PressPublisher Dedalus PressWeight(grams) 420g

The difficulty (and necessity) of translation is concisely described in Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, a close reading of different translations of a single poem from the Tang Dynasty-from a transliteration to Kenneth Rexroth's loose...

Fairies fascinate young and old alike. To some they offer tantalizing glimpses of other worlds, to others a subversive counterpoint to human arrogance and weakness. Like no other author, Katharine Briggs throughout her work communicated the thrill and...

What is The Tiger Who Came to Tea really about? How is Meg and Mog related to Polish embroidery? And why does death in picture books involve being eaten? Fierce Bad Rabbits explores the stories behind our favourite picture books, weaving in tales of...

An introductory guide to some of the most significant perspectives on the subject of power within social and political theory. Contains extracts from such leading contemporary thinkers as Giddens, Lukes and Bourdieu alongside recent conceptions of power...

A THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019'The best introduction to the plays I've read, perhaps the best book on Shakespeare, full stop' Alex Preston, Observer'It makes you impatient to see or re-read the plays at once' Hilary MantelA genius and prophet whose...

The Jungle Books can be regarded as classic stories told by an adult to children. But they also constitute a complex literary work of art in which the whole of Kipling's philosophy of life is expressed in miniature. They are best known for the `Mowgli'...

A stunning set of Homer's epics, brilliantly translated by a leading ancient world scholar. Hailed by reviewers and readers alike, Peter Green's landmark translations of Homer's timeless epics are now available for the first time in this striking and...

"A visual treat as well as a literary one...for gardeners and garden lovers, connoisseurs of botanical illustration, and those who seek a deeper understanding of the life and work of Emily Dickinson." -The Wall Street Journal Emily Dickinson was a keen...

'Wonderful. A manifesto of horticultural delight' Literary Review 'Beautiful. Perfect for literary garden lovers' Good Housekeeping'Rich and unusual, a book to treasure. Few recent gardening books come anywhere close to its style, intelligence and...

Christopher Hitchens's personally curated New York Times bestselling anthology of the most influential and important writings on atheism, including original pieces by Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwanFrom the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781907776083Author Simon PalfreyFormat PaperbackPage Count 128Imprint CONNELL PUBLISHING LTDPublisher CONNELL PUBLISHING LTD

One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their counterpoint Experience - which juxtapose poems such as...

"A feminist classic."-Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review"A pivotal book, one of those after which we will never think the same again."-Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Washington Post Book World A pathbreaking book of literary criticism is now reissued...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780830846566Author Sharon Garlough BrownFormat PaperbackPage Count 64Imprint Inter-Varsity Press,USPublisher InterVarsity PressWeight(grams)...

Phaedrus is widely recognized as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works. It takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus and its ostensible subject is love, especially homoerotic love. This new translation is accompanied by an...