A new expanded edition of Tolkien's most famous, and most important essay, which defined his conception of fantasy as a literary form, and which led to the writing of The Lord of the Rings. Accompanied by a critical study of the history and writing of the text.

This richly illustrated book explores the huge creative endeavour behind Tolkien's enduring popularity. Lavishly illustrated with over 300 images of his manuscripts, drawings, maps and letters, the book traces the creative process behind his most famous literary works and reproduces personal photographs and private papers.

This lavishly illustrated book showcases the highlights of the Tolkien archives held at the Bodleian Library. This stunning book is a perfect introduction to Tolkien's creative imagination, giving a unique insight into the life of this extraordinary writer, artist and scholar.

Tolkien's Lost Chaucer uncovers the story of an unpublished and previously unknown book by the author of The Lord of the Rings. It reveals how major episodes from the trilogy were inspired by Tolkien's editing and teaching of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Offers students an introduction to Tolstoy's literary works from his major novels to the shorter novels and texts, including "Hadji Murat" and "The Death of Ivan Ilyich". This guide also covers major themes including sex, death, authority and evil and offers an overview of Tolstoy's religious and philosophical thought.

Drawing on several years of long, exploratory conversations with Stoppard himself, it tracks his Czech origins and childhood in India to every school and home he's ever lived in, every piece of writing he's ever done, and every play and film he's ever worked on;

Shot through with Stoppard's voice, and illuminating all his plays, Lee's gripping narrative draws on unprecedented access to archive material, interviews and long conversations with Stoppard himself.

Presents a guide to the works of Toni Morrison. This work offers an interview with Toni Morrison, relating specifically to the texts under discussion. It deals with Morrison's themes, genre and narrative technique.

The definitive, authorised biography of the creator of The Moomins

A future classic of memoir by one of the greatest writersat work today

Seth Lerer explores our relationship to the literary past in an age marked by historical self-consciousness, critical distance, and shifts in cultural literacy. He examines a range of fiction, poetry, and criticism in order to understand the ways in which the literary past makes us, and how we create canons for reading, teaching, and scholarship.

"Stephanie Hodgson-Wright's excellent edition of this important work is the most user-friendly available." -- Jacqueline Pearson, University of Manchester

Rowan Williams explores the definition of the tragic as a mode of narrative, in this short and thought-provoking volume. He turns to subjects including the role of irony in tragedy, the relationship between tragedy and political as well as religious rhetoric, common ground between tragedy and comedy, and the complex place of theology in the debate.

Providing detailed coverage of the main political and religious issues of the age, this new edition has expanded sections on Ireland and Scotland, ensuring the text considers Britain as a whole. There is extra coverage of economic and social topics.

Transport in British Fiction is the first essay collection devoted to transport and its various types-horse, train, tram, cab, omnibus, bicycle, ship, car, air and space-as represented in British fiction across a century of unprecedented technological change that was as destabilizing as it was progressive.

An increasingly popular genre, addressing issues of space, language, colonialism, globalization and politics, travel writing offers the reader a movement between the familiar and the unknown. This book offers a useful introduction for those new to the subject, as well as a crucial overview of the terminology, history and debates within the field.

A book on writers and their relationship to the countryside by one of our greatest living critics.

White's commentary ranges from a reappraisal of Enlightenment history to a reflective summary of the current state of literary criticism.