Literary Criticism

'A problem of space first of all, then a problem of order'One of the most singular and extravagant imaginations of the twentieth century, the novelist and essayist Georges Perec was a true original who delighted in wordplay, puzzles, taxonomies and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781585426928Author Timothy FrekeFormat PaperbackPage Count 192Imprint Jeremy P TarcherPublisher Penguin Putnam IncDimensions(mm) 178mm * 127mm * 16mm

John Ruskin was one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth century. His study of art and architecture in Britain and Europe led him to consider of the conditions of the people who lived in his world, and his interests embraced social and...

In this funny, erudite, endlessly curious, uncannily prescient collection of essays cultural icon Margaret Atwood asks:- Why do people everywhere, in all cultures, tell stories?- How much of yourself can you give away without evaporating?- How can we...

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Elizabeth Bishop has been described as the 'best-loved' poet in English of the second half of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction explores the 90 or so published poems that are at...

Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays, Twelfth Night is a classic romantic comedy of mistaken identities. In recent years it has returned to the centre of critical debate surrounding gender and sexuality. The...

Bartolome de Las Casas was the first and fiercest critic of Spanish colonialism in the New World. An early traveller to the Americas who sailed on one of Columbus's voyages, Las Casas was so horrified by the wholesale massacre he witnessed that he...

A comprehensive resource to understanding the hand-press printing of early books Studying Early Printed Books, 1450 - 1800 offers a guide to the fascinating process of how books were printed in the first centuries of the press and shows how the mechanics...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780993077821Author Michael Bowen, Neil MeallyFormat PaperbackPage Count 260Imprint Peripeteia PressPublisher Peripeteia Press

Frantz Fanon is one of the most important figures in the history of what is now known as postcolonial studies - the field that examines the meaning and impacts of European colonialism across the world. Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon...

Evening Standard's the Best Comedy Books of the Year, 2018Skinny's Book of the Year, 2018 'Joyfully entertaining. Full of warmth, wisdom and affectionate delight in the wonder and absurdity of being human.' Observer'Funny, honest and heart-warming.' Matt...

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,...

'She was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal in leading the way' Sandi Toksvig'Some people thought her merely bohemian, but others were grateful to have so engaging a role-model' INDEPENDENTThe superb classic...

'Lorca brought an understanding of the paradox that was Spain - sensuality chafing under a rigid moral code, individual desire at war with tradition.' Manuel Duran Federico Garcia Lorca is perhaps the most celebrated of all twentieth-century Spanish...

A new selection of foundational works from the influential philosopher who developed the theory of mimetic desireWhy do humans have such a remarkable capacity for conflict? From ancient foundational myths to the modern era, the visionary thinker Rene...

"Miss Beach's book is intimate, not scholarly, and thus full of interesting information. Her reminiscences are literally an index of everybody in the twenties, and she knew them all."-Janet Flanner, New YorkerSylvia Beach was intimately acquainted with...

Think you already know the story of Charles Dickens' life? Think again.Almost everything you're familiar with was first mentioned in an authorised biography written by Dickens' close friend John Forster 150 years ago. It's the version of events that...

With an introduction by Simon CallowJudgements about the quality of works of art begin in opinion. But for the last two hundred years only the wilfully perverse (and Tolstoy) have denied the validity of the opinion that Shakespeare was a genius.Who was...

For as long as humans have existed, they have asked: What if? Science fiction was a defining genre of the postwar era, and its current boom across books, film and TV shows no sign of slowing. Space ships, time travel, aliens and artificial...

'Fierce. Game-changing. Urgently necessary. Brilliant, brilliant and did I say brilliant?' EMMA THOMPSON 'Pacy, vivid, compelling and very, VERY funny ... it will help so many' MARIAN KEYES 'A fucking classic. Required reading for all women and...

World-renowned scientist Richard Dawkins writes in The God Delusion: 'If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down'. The volume has received wide coverage, fuelled much passionate debate and caused...

London: An Illustrated Literary Companion, compiled by Rosemary Gray, captures the varying moods of the great city over recent centuries, through diary entries, with quotations, poems, essays and extracts from great works written in its honour. It is...

A devotional, literary and philosophical work of unsurpassed beauty and relevance, the universal themes of The Bhagavad Gita-life and death, war and peace and sacrifice-resonate in a West increasingly interested in Eastern religious experiences and the...

Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, and The Seafarer are among the greatest surviving Anglo-Saxon poems. They, and many other treasures, are included in The Anglo-Saxon World: chronicles, laws and letters, charters and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780451471703Author PlatoFormat PaperbackPage Count 672Imprint Signet ClassicsPublisher Penguin Putnam Inc

Alcibiades was one of the most dazzling figures of the Golden Age of Athens. A ward of Pericles and a friend of Socrates, he was spectacularly rich, bewitchingly handsome and charismatic, a skilled general, and a ruthless politician. He was also a serial...

'I am going to write the spy story to end all spy stories' One morning in February 1952, a journalist called Ian Fleming sat down at his desk and set about creating a fictional secret agent. James Bond was born and would go on to become one of the most...

Pablo Neruda (1904-73) was the greatest Latin American poet of the 20th century. A prolific, inspirational poet, he wrote many different kinds of poems covering a wide range of themes, notably love, death, grief and despair. His poetry celebrates the...

York Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York...

To Have Or to Be? is one of the seminal books of the second half of the 20th century. Nothing less than a manifesto for a new social and psychological revolution to save our threatened planet, this book is a summary of the penetrating thought of Eric...

It's a cool July day. A young girl is tired of window-shopping in Oxford Street, when a white rabbit runs past her looking at his watch. "Oh dear! Oh dear! It's 3 o'clock already. I shall be too late!" Without thinking, she chases after the rabbit and...

In this entertaining and enlightening collection David Lodge considers the art of fiction under a wide range of headings, drawing on writers as diverse as Henry James, Martin Amis, Jane Austen and James Joyce. Looking at ideas such as the Intrusive...

With over fifty new poems from Britain's favourite poet, You Made Me Late Again! is an essential addition to Pam Ayres' incomparable collection of works.Pam's poems are observant, witty and poignant in equal measure. In 'The Swifts' and 'The Pyracantha...

A unique reference book for all fans of Anthony Powell's 12-volume novel, A Dance to the Music of Time, which has become a literary landmark of twentieth-century writing. More than a simple glossary, Invitation to the Dance contains extensive Character,...

1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear traces Shakespeare's life and times from the autumn of 1605, when he took an old and anonymous Elizabethan play, The Chronicle History of King Leir, and transformed it into his most searing tragedy, King...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780156005746Author Czeslaw MiloszFormat PaperbackPage Count 352Imprint Mariner BooksPublisher Mariner BooksWeight(grams) 386g

R. S. Thomas was a major figure in the landscape of contemporary poetry - attested by his Nobel Prize for Literature nomination. His poetry, coloured by personal experience of rural Wales, is stark but passionate.* Introduction by a leading author or...

A truly astonishing, illustrated history of Science fiction, covering fantasy, and horror, with forays into crime, mystery and the gothic. Using timelines, online links, illustrations, posters, movie stills, book covers, and more, this amazing new book...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781611808308Author Maureen MurdockFormat PaperbackPage Count 256Imprint Shambhala Publications IncPublisher Shambhala Publications Inc

One of America's most celebrated poets, Emily Dickinson was virtually unpublished in her lifetime. When a slim volume of her poems emerged on the American scene in 1890, her work created shockwaves that have not subsided yet. Famously precise and sparse,...