Literary Criticism

The new edition of this bestselling literary theory anthology has been thoroughly updated to include influential texts from innovative new areas, including disability studies, eco-criticism, and ethics. Covers all the...

Only edition in printAfter leaving his job with the BBC Eastern Service in November 1943, George Orwell became literary editor of Tribune magazine, penning a regular column called "As I...

Jonathan Bate's Soul of the Age brings us closer than ever to understanding what being Shakespeare was actually like.How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly...

The author concentrates on four American writers - William Faulkner, Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Eugene O'Neill - and investigates the part alcoholism played in their lives and the ways...

From Svevo, Saba and Joyce in Trieste to Borges, Rushdie and psychopathology, Tim Parks new collection of essays confirms his mastery of the essay form. Other subjects include Saramago, Sebald,...

A collection of interviews, speeches, and essays by Langston Hughes.Let America Be America Again: Conversations with Langston Hughes is a record of a remarkable man talking. In texts ranging from...

What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High Priest of Art? Court Jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood and the development of...

First published in 1973, this collection of Chekhov's correspondence is widely regarded as the best introduction to this great Russian writer. Weighted heavily toward the correspondence dealing with literary and...

In this new edition of his landmark book, John Gross traces the shifting fortunes of the men who shaped literary opinion in England during the Victorian, Edwardian, and contemporary eras....

'A wonderful book about wonderful books and mothers and sons and the enduring braid between them.' - Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie'a true meditation on what books can...

A rollicking narrative history set during the extraordinary summer of 1726 when Jonathan Swift arrived in London from Dublin, with a draft of Gulliver's Travels in his bag. Jonathan Swift...

First published in 1977, this classic reference work is a gazetteer of almost 2,000 places - villages, towns, cities, and landscapes - in Britain and Ireland detailing their connections with...

Mark Greif is one of the most exciting writers of his generation. In Against Everything, he make us rethink the ordinary, taking our own lives seriously, exploring how we might...

The greatest writer of the English language as he lived and breathed-a compelling portrait of William Shakespeare and his world, vividly rendered by acclaimed author and television presenter Michael Wood....

In 1878 the Victorian critic Matthew Arnold wrote: 'Goethe is the greatest poet of modern times... because having a very considerable gift for poetry, he was at the same time,...

The study of the cultural landscape has gained momentum in recent years, revealing new insights to geographers, archaeologists, sociologists and architects. The cultural landscape is often viewed as an emblematic...

Although Woody Allen is best known for his cult movies, he is also a writer of outstanding wit and skill. Dip into this collection of fifty-two pieces for hilarity, deadpan...

Independent bookshops are the unsung heroes of queer liberation, providing friendship, solidarity and sanctuary through the ages.'A terrific read!' Jane Cholmeley, author of A Bookshop of One's OwnTravelling from Shakespeare...

The Ninth Edition offers more complete works and more teachable groupings than ever before, the apparatus you trust, and a new, free Supplemental Ebook with more than 1,000 additional texts....

A literary master's entertaining guide to reading with deeper insight, better understanding, and greater pleasure What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret...

A new edition of one of the world's leading textbooks on journalism. Translated into more than a dozen languages, David Randall's handbook is an invaluable guide to the 'universals' of...

Following her highly successful Book Addict's Treasury, compiled with Lynda Murphy, Julie Rugg returns with a second anthology of literary extracts, quotations and bon mots concerning every aspect of bookish...

Who had birds called Death, Wigs and Spinach? How do you spell the noise of a door slamming? Whose working title was The Chronic Argonauts?Henry Eliot - author, editor and...

This is a playful and provocative collection of 365 extracts sourced from the British Library's collections. Selected to challenge and inform the reader, each excerpt is accompanied by the unique...

Throughout history, apocalypse fiction has explored social injustice through fantasy, sci-fi and religious imagery, but what can we learn from it? Why do we escape very real disaster via dystopia?...

Master writer's block and spark your creativity with this workbook full of helpful tips and a variety of prompts for writers of all experience levels to create their perfect dystopian...

'A wonderful take on the chaos of the modern word' Louise O'Neill 'Carl has the rare gift of combining analytical clarity with maniacal vulnerability' Blindboy Boatclub'Sharp, inventive and irresistibly engaging'...

Ursula Le Guin took readers to imaginary worlds for decades. In her last great frontier of life, old age, she explored a new literary territory: the blog, a forum where...

'Enlightening, moving' SIR IAN MCKELLEN From the acclaimed and bestselling biographer Jonathan Bate, a luminous new exploration of Shakespeare and how his themes can untangle comedy and tragedy, learning and...

Drawing on a rich tapestry of historical analysis, literary criticism, and cultural theory, Hazel V. Carby interrogates our racial fictions, which have been constructed, maintained, and weaponized across centuries to...