In Penned & Painted, Lucy Freeman Sandler, one of one of the world's most respected authorities on medieval art, takes us on a personal but highly insightful exploration of some of the British Library's most precious manuscript holdings and describes the many uses and meanings of these 'books in books'.

Sex, fame and scandal in the theatrical, literary and social circles of late 18th-century England.

He came to public notice after the publication of his award-winning novel, Hawksmoor (1985), a thrilling historiographic metafiction that combines the horror of an 18th-century gothic tale of ritual murder with the suspense of a 20th-century detective story.

Marina Warner's study of the products of fantasy deepens our understanding of the supernatural in relation to self and society. This surprising story explores the metaphors and media that have been the stock in trade of poets, scientists, magicians, and visionaries, including wax and cloud, smoke and mirrors, ether, ectoplasm, and celluloid.

A scholarly and amusing, short and eclectic history about books, book collectors and book lovers that will delight common readers and literary editors alike.

Philip Larkin, one of England's greatest and most popular twentieth-century poets, is nonetheless widely regarded as a misanthropic, provincial recluse. This volume re-examines that critical view and argues that Larkin's poetry, far from demonstrating his misanthropy, highlights his profound awareness of and concern for readers.

Controversy rages around Larkin's character and life. This book takes a fresh look at his poems through close analysis, discussion of Larkin's major concerns and demonstrating how to approach these enigmatic works. It provides background information including an account of his life, discussion of cultural context and major critical views

The renowned biographer's definitive portrait of a literary titan Appointed by Philip Roth and granted complete access and independence, Blake Bailey spent years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and engaging Roth himself in breathtakingly candid conversations.

The Philosophy of Modern Literary Theory presents a short introduction to the problems, theories and concepts of literary criticism, from Anglo-American New Criticism to Deconstruction and Postmodernism.

Examining tales of notorious figures in Renaissance England, Laurie Ellinghausen sheds new light on the construction of the early modern renegade and its depiction in English prose, poetry, and drama during a period of capitalist expansion.

This book is the first comprehensive examination of commercial drama as a reading genre in early modern England. Focusing on the dominant format of the single-play quarto playbook, it juxtaposes analysis of print and manuscript evidence to present a detailed picture of how plays were read, why, and by whom.

Analyzes sexual themes in the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, both in the context of the Jacobean theatre and in the light of modern readings of sexuality and gender during the English Renaissance. Sandra Clark challenges commonly-held perceptions of Beaumont and Fletcher's work.

'When I am disturbed, even angry, gardening has been a therapy. When I don't want to talk I turn to Plot 29, or to a wilder piece of land by a northern sea. There, among seeds and trees, my breathing slows; my heart rate too. My anxieties slip away.'

Includes examples of poetry, interviews of poets, and practical exercises and discussion of poetry writing as a method. This book helps students to consider the importance of form and function in poetry for qualitative methods. It answers the question of how to teach the creation and evaluation of poetry.

Poetry offers a unique perspective on the current and future value of poetry in terms of the public good.

Reveals how novels of political estrangement have drawn on cultural narratives to capture the zeitgeist of the 20th Century and the disillusionment of modernism. In this book, the author adds political novels to those inquiries and argues that they make a distinctive and hitherto neglected contribution to the collective memory of the 20th Century.