Literary Criticism

Completed in 1136, The History of the Kings of Britain traces the story of the realm from its supposed foundation by Brutus to the coming of the Saxons some two thousand years later. Vividly portraying legendary and semi-legendary figures such as Lear,...

On publication Arundhati Roy's first novel The God of Small Things (1997) rapidly became an international bestseller, winning the Booker Prize and creating a new space for Indian literature and culture within the arts, even as it courted controversy and...

'May be the most detailed, painstaking anatomy of desire that we are ever likely to see or need again... An ecstatic celebration of love and language' Washington PostThe language we use when we are in love is not a language we speak. It is a language...

The newly established text is based on all extant materials and is accompanied by several textual essays. "Backgrounds" provides readers with an understanding of Great Expectations's inception and internal chronology. A discussion of the public-reading...

One of a series designed to provide a new, accessible approach to the works of great poets and playwrights. Each text includes general notes on the text; discussion of themes, issues and context; and suggestions for further reading.Making A Level texts...

A classic study of the beliefs and institutions of mankind, and the progress through magic and religion to scientific thought, The Golden Bough has a unique status in modern anthropology and literature. First published in 1890, The Golden Bough was...

This first full-length biography of Anglo- American poet and activist Denise Levertov (1923-1997) brings to life one of the major voices of the second half of the twentieth century, when American poetry was a powerful influence worldwide. Drawing on...

In the Histories, which could loosely be translated as 'Investigations' or 'Researches,' Herodotus tells how the Persian Empire began, grew, and then met defeat in Greece in his parents' generation. Book 1 begins that story. It introduces both the world...

A bold new account of how celebrity worksWhy do we care so much about celebrities? Who decides who gets to be a star? Do celebrities deserve the outsized attention they receive? Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession...

For George MacDonald Fraser the bully Flashman was easily the most interesting character in Tom Brown's Schooldays, and imaginative speculation as to what might have happened to him after his expulsion from Rugby School for drunkenness ended in 12...

Science Fiction has proved notoriously difficult to define. It has been explained as a combination of romance, science and prophecy; as a genre based on an imagined alternative to the reader's environment; and as a form of fantastic fiction and...

Published twenty years ago, Leela Gandhi's Postcolonial Theory was a landmark description of the field of postcolonial studies in theoretical terms that set its intellectual context alongside poststructuralism, postmodernism, Marxism, and feminism...

A vital, engaging, and hugely enjoyable guide to poetry, from ancient times to the present, by one of our greatest champions of literature--selected as the literature book of the year by the London Times "[A] fizzing, exhilarating book."-Sebastian...

Don Gifford's annotations to Joyce's great modern classic comprise a specialized encyclopedia that will inform any reading of "Ulysses". The suggestive potential of minor details was enormously fascinating to Joyce, and the precision of his use of detail...

'There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life.' In Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet a popular cultural phenomenon is born. We meet two of the most famous characters in modern literary history: the...

Now thoroughly revamped with a diverse selection of poetic voices from the last fifty years, this third edition of Rhian Williams's bestselling book, The Poetry Toolkit guides readers through key terms, genres and concepts that help them to develop a...

THE ULTIMATE GUIDES TO EXAM SUCCESS from York Notes - the UK's favourite English Literature Study Guides. York Notes for AS & A2 are specifically designed for AS & A2 students to help you get the very best grade you can. They are comprehensive, easy...

A copiously illustrated global history of magic books, from ancient papyri to pulp paperbacks "A beautiful production: a typographic and calligraphic treat as treasurable as a rare magical text itself. Almost every page is filled with wonder."-Suzi...

`She had believed that my wild poet's passion for her would make me her slave; and that, being her slave, I should execute her will in all things.' The Lifted Veil was first published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1859. A dark fantasy woven from...

_______________ A pocket-sized, unmissable essay on the importance of children's literature by the bestselling and award-winning author, Katherine Rundell. _______________ 'It's a very short book but it packs a real punch... A real delight' -...

One hundred of the most evocative modern poems on joy, selected by an award-winning contemporary poet"Bursting with energy and surprising locutions. . . . Even the most familiar poets seem somehow new within the context of Joy."-David Skeel, Wall Street...

Get to grips with set texts and be fully prepared for the AS/A Level exam with the Modern Languages Oxford Literature Companions. The Companions are written by experienced lecturers, teachers and examiners and provide comprehensive coverage of...

This reader remains the only major new reader of Old English prose and verse in the past forty years. The second edition is extensively revised throughout, with the addition of a new 'Beginning Old English' section for newcomers to the Old English...

Dual text on facing pages, now revised and updated. Critically acclaimed translation now in its twenty fifth year. Extensive notes, glossary and introduction .About the AuthorW. R. J. Barron is Honourary Research Fellow, University of ExeterBook...

Written during the most eventful years of Benjamin Franklin's life (1771-90), the Autobiography is one of the most influential memoirs in history. This newly edited Norton Critical Edition includes an introduction that explains the history of the...

'Fascinating' The Times'Blakeian in its singularity' New Statesman'A wonderful adventure' Irish Times'Rich, complex and original' Tom Holland'A crisp, ambitious and thoroughly contemporary introduction' Times Literary SupplementPoet, artist, visionary...

The first known mystery written by an African-American, set in 1930s Harlem.Book InformationISBN 9780472064922Author Rudolph FisherFormat PaperbackPage Count 320Imprint The University of Michigan PressPublisher The University of Michigan...

'a Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe' E. M. Forster E. M. Forster's description of C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933) perfectly encapsulates the unique perspective Cavafy brought to bear on history...

A look at 100 inspiring novels that have left a significant mark on the world of literature and popular culture. Before the novel, the world of books was dominated by scientific tomes, religious tracts and histories...

The perfect gift for Valentine's DaySelected Poems contains Neruda's resonant, exploratory, intensely individualistic verse, rooted in the physical landscape and people of Chile. Here we find sensuous songs of love, tender odes to the sea, melancholy...

This book features original readings of Pound and Eliot from a major literary critic. In this classic work, Maud Ellmann examines T. S. Eliot's and Ezra Pound's criticism in terms of what she calls the 'poetics of impersonality'. She convincingly shows...

Available for the first time in English, the complete, uncensored diaries of one of the twentieth century's most influential writers 'The writing glimmers with sensitivity, and openness to the world' - The Wall Street JournalDating from 1909 to 1923,...

The appearance of Philip Larkin's second prose collection - reviews and critical assessments of writers and writing; pieces on jazz, mostly uncollected; some long, revealing and often highly entertaining interviews given on various occasions - was a...

Winner of Best Book, Publication, or Recording prize at the Falstaff Awards 2015 Shortlisted for the 2016 SLA Information Book Award The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary is the first of its kind, a brand new illustrated alphabetical...

Rainer Maria Rilke developed one of the most singular poetic styles of the twentieth century. Visionary yet always anchored in the real world, his poems give profound expression to fundamental questions of love and death, of the chaos of the modern world...

Poet, artist and mystic Kahlil Gibran was born in 1883 to a poor Christian family in Lebanon and emigrated to the United States as an adolescent. His masterpiece, The Prophet, a book of poetic essays written in his youth, has sold over eight million...

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Last Act of Love, Cathy Rentzenbrink's Dear Reader is the ultimate love letter to reading and to finding the comfort and joy in stories.'Exquisite' - Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups'A warm, unpretentious...

Proust's famous novel A la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past) is a fascinating exploration not only of memory and desire, of high society and everyday life, but also of art. The study focuses on Venice, one of the hero's central...

"This excellent edition is most welcome. A select bibliography, a brief vocabulary, several footnotes to explain points of difficulty, fourteen long endnotes... and even the music of the songs, make the edition an extremely valuable and interesting...

The Tain Bo Cuailnge, centre-piece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's greatest epic. It tells the story of a great cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, queen and king of Connacht, and their...