History & Criticism
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Alchemy: The latest new gripping historical crime thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author: Book 7 (Giordano Bruno)
The new historical crime thriller in the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling series, perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom and Hilary Mantel
Prague, 1588.
A COURT IN TURMOIL
The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, wants to expand the boundaries of human knowledge, and his court is a haven for scientists, astrologers and alchemists. His abiding passion is the feverish search for the philosopher’s stone and thus immortality. The Catholic Church fears he has pushed too far, into the forbidden realm of heresy – and the greatest powers in Christendom are concerned about the imperial line of succession.A MURDERED ALCHEMIST
Giordano Bruno is sent to his court by Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I’s spymaster. His task: to contact the famous English alchemist and mystic John Dee, another of Walsingham’s spies. But Bruno’s arrival in Prague coincides with the brutal murder of a rival alchemist – and John Dee himself has disappeared.AN UNFORGIVING ENEMY
Ordered by the emperor to find the killer, Bruno’s investigations bring him face to face with an old enemy from the Inquisition. But could the real danger lie elsewhere? Amidst the jostling factions at court and the religious tensions brewing in the city, Bruno has to track down a murderer as elusive as the elixir of life itself.‘The clever twists and turns of Alchemy are assuredly plotted and Prague, a city in religious and political turmoil, makes for a powerful setting’ The Times
‘Over the past dozen years, S. J. Parris’s novels… have been among the most enjoyable of all historical thrillers’ Sunday Times
‘Breathless pace and acutely observed detail make for a story that confounds and surprises’ Observer
S. J. Parris’s book Alchemy was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 03-07-2023
S. J. Parris’ book ‘Alchemy’ was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 24-07-2023.
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All the Sonnets of Shakespeare
How can we look afresh at Shakespeare as a writer of sonnets? What new light might they shed on his career, personality, and sexuality? Shakespeare wrote sonnets for at least thirty years, not only for himself, for professional reasons, and for those he loved, but also in his plays, as prologues, as epilogues, and as part of their poetic texture. This ground-breaking book assembles all of Shakespeare’s sonnets in their probable order of composition. An inspiring introduction debunks long-established biographical myths about Shakespeare’s sonnets and proposes new insights about how and why he wrote them. Explanatory notes and modern English paraphrases of every poem and dramatic extract illuminate the meaning of these sometimes challenging but always deeply rewarding witnesses to Shakespeare’s inner life and professional expertise. Beautifully printed and elegantly presented, this volume will be treasured by students, scholars, and every Shakespeare enthusiast.Read more
£10.60£12.30All the Sonnets of Shakespeare
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Before Borders: A Legal and Literary History of Naturalization
An ambitious revisionist history of naturalization as a creative mechanism for national expansion.
Before borders determined who belonged in a country and who did not, lawyers and judges devised a legal fiction called naturalization to bypass the idea of feudal allegiance and integrate new subjects into their nations. At the same time, writers of prose fiction were attempting to undo centuries of rules about who could—and who could not—be a subject of literature. In Before Borders, Stephanie DeGooyer reconstructs how prose and legal fictions came together in the eighteenth century to dramatically reimagine national belonging through naturalization. The bureaucratic procedure of naturalization today was once a radically fictional way to create new citizens and literary subjects.
Through early modern court proceedings, the philosophy of John Locke, and the novels of Daniel Defoe, Laurence Sterne, Maria Edgeworth, and Mary Shelley, DeGooyer follows how naturalization evolved in England against the backdrop of imperial expansion. Political and philosophical proponents of naturalization argued that granting foreigners full political and civil rights would not only attract newcomers but also better attach them to English soil. However, it would take a new literary form—the novel—to fully realize this liberal vision of immigration. Together, these experiments in law and literature laid the groundwork for an alternative vision of subjecthood in England and its territories.
Reading eighteenth-century legal and prose fiction, DeGooyer draws attention to an overlooked period of immigration history and compels readers to reconsider the creative potential of naturalization.
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Complete Write a Novel Course: Teach Yourself: Your complete guide to mastering the art of novel writing
LEARN HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL WITH THIS COMPLETE, PRACTICAL COURSE.
Designed to take you from the moment you first put pen to paper right through to the process of contacting publishers (or uploading an ebook file) and promoting your book, this is the most important book on writing that you’ll ever read. It introduces you to the craft of fiction writing, the art of words and the way in which to use them. It gives you inspiration, ideas and practical advice.
It gives you the background and the skills you’ll need to succeed.
Unlike other books on the market, however, it also helps you begin to critique your own work, meaning that at every step of the writing process you’ll be producing the best art you can. There are plenty of other essential writing tools in this book, as well, including techniques for overcoming writer’s block; with nearly a quarter of the book focussing on how to get published, how to publish yourself, which courses you do – and don’t – need, the nuts and bolts of competitions and festivals and the importance of social media, this really is the most comprehensive companion to the subject available.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Teach Yourself Creative Writing series helps aspiring authors tell their story. Covering a range of genres from science fiction and romantic novels, to illustrated children’s books and comedy, this series is packed with advice, exercises and tips for unlocking creativity and improving your writing. And because we know how daunting the blank page can be, we set up the Just Write online community at tyjustwrite, for budding authors and successful writers to connect and share.Read more
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Dickensland: The Curious History of Dickens’s London
The intriguing history of Dickens’s London, showing how tourists have reimagined and reinvented the Dickensian metropolis for more than 150 years
Tourists have sought out the landmarks, streets, and alleys of Charles Dickens’s London ever since the death of the world-renowned author. Late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with tracking down the locations―dubbed “Dickensland”―that famously featured in his novels. But his fans were faced with a city that was undergoing rapid redevelopment, where literary shrines were far from sacred. Over the following century, sites connected with Dickens were demolished, relocated, and reimagined.
Lee Jackson traces the fascinating history of Dickensian tourism, exploring both real Victorian London and a fictional city shaped by fandom, tourism, and heritage entrepreneurs. Beginning with the late nineteenth century, Jackson investigates key sites of literary pilgrimage and their relationship with Dickens and his work, revealing hidden, reinvented, and even faked locations. From vanishing coaching inns to submerged riverside stairs, hidden burial grounds to apocryphal shops, Dickensland charts the curious history of an imaginary world.Read more
£15.60£19.00Dickensland: The Curious History of Dickens’s London
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Dracula: Stoker Bram (Penguin Classics)
‘The very best story of diablerie which I have read for many years’ Arthur Conan Doyle
A masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula also probes identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire. It begins when Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, and makes horrifying discoveries in his client’s castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England – an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman’s neck; a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his ‘Master’ – and a determined group of adversaries prepare to battle the Count.
Edited with an Introduction and notes by MAURICE HINDLE
With a Preface by CHRISTOPHER FRAYLINGRead more
£6.90£7.60Dracula: Stoker Bram (Penguin Classics)
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Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown: ‘this novel makes Henry VIII’s story feel like it has never been told before’ (Tracy Borman)
The Sunday Times top 10 bestseller
‘Alison Weir makes Henry VIII’s story feel like it has never been told before… This novel will open your eyes and, at times, break your heart. By the end of it, I felt like I had met Henry for the first time’ Tracy Borman
Six wives. One King. You know their stories. Now it’s time to hear his.
Prince Harry is born the second son, his brother destined to rule. But Arthur’s untimely death sees Harry crowned King Henry of England.
As Henry’s power and influence extends, so commences a lifelong battle between head and heart, love and duty. The fate of the Tudor dynasty depends on an heir, but his prayers for a son go unanswered.
And the crown weighs heavy on a king with all but his one true desire…
HENRY VIII. HIS STORY.
Alison Weir’s most ambitious Tudor novel yet reveals the captivating story of a man who was by turns brilliant, romantic, and ruthless: the king who changed England forever.
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PRAISE FOR ALISON WEIR’S TUDOR FICTION
‘This is where the story of the Tudors begins and is historical fiction at its absolute best’ Tracy Borman
‘History has the best stories and they should all be told like this’ Conn Iggulden
‘A serious achievement’ The Times
‘Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life’ Guardian
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Horror: A Literary History
Horror: A Literary History is the book horror readers and students need. It will hold you in its grip, leaving you replete with invaluable information about the range, longevity and mutations of the horror genre as it consistently forces you to engage with serious cultural and personal issues.Horror is unlike any other literary genre. It seeks to provoke uniquely strong reactions, such as fear, shock, dread or disgust, and yet remains very popular. It also crosses media, manifesting in narrative forms such as graphic novels and video games. Its characters and trends routinely escape the confines of given texts and become part of the zeitgeist. Of course, horror is most readily associated with the film industry, but horrific short stories and novels have been wildly loved by readers for well over two centuries. Despite its persistent popularity, there is no up-to-date history of horror fiction for the general reader.
This ground-breaking book, now in paperback, is the first comprehensive history of horror fiction to take readers from the first Gothic novel in 1764 to the ‘new weird’, and beyond, in the early 21st century. It offers a chronological overview of the genre in fiction and explores its development and mutations over the past 250 years.
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£13.20£16.10Horror: A Literary History
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Kindertransport (NHB Modern Plays)
A modern classic about one woman’s struggle to come to terms with her past.Brutally separated from her German Jewish parents at the age of nine, Eva is brought to England with the promise of a new life…
Between 1939 until the outbreak of World War II, nearly 10,000 Jewish children were taken from their families in Nazi-occupied Germany and sent to live with foster families in Britain. Diane Samuels’ seminal play, Kindertransport, imagines the fate of one such child.Kindertransport has been read and studied the world over.
Kindertransport won the 1992 Verity Bargate Award and was subsequently staged by the Soho Theatre Company at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 1993. It also won the Meyer-Whitworth Award in 1993.
Since its premiere the play has been revived several times.
This edition includes several personal memoirs by German-born children whose lives were saved, and transformed, by the Kindertransport.
Set Text: Kindertransport is a set text for GCSE English Literature (AQA) and AS/A-Level English Literature (WJEC).
Also available: Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport: The author’s guide to the play, invaluable for anyone studying, teaching or performing the play.
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£8.90£10.40Kindertransport (NHB Modern Plays)
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Late Victorian Gothic Tales (Oxford World’s Classics)
‘He was a man of fairly firm fibre, but there was something in this sudden, uncontrollable shriek of horror which chilled his blood and pringled in his skin. Coming in such a place and at such an hour, it brought a thousand fantastic possibilities into his head…’The Victorian fin de siècle: the era of Decadence, The Yellow Book, the New Woman, the scandalous Oscar Wilde, the Empire on which the sun never set. This heady brew was caught nowhere better than in the revival of the Gothic tale in the late Victorian age, where the undead walked and evil curses, foul murder, doomed inheritance and sexual menace played on the stretched nerves of the new mass readerships. This anthology collects together some of the most famous examples of the Gothic tale in the 1890s, with stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Vernon Lee, Henry James and Arthur Machen, as well as some lesser known yet superbly chilling tales from the era. The introduction explores the many reasons for the Gothic revival, and how it spoke to the anxieties of the moment.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Read more
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Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei: (With More Ways)
The difficulty (and necessity) of translation is concisely described in Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, a close reading of different translations of a single poem from the Tang Dynasty―from a transliteration to Kenneth Rexroth’s loose interpretation. As Octavio Paz writes in the afterword, “Eliot Weinberger’s commentary on the successive translations of Wang Wei’s little poem illustrates, with succinct clarity, not only the evolution of the art of translation in the modern period but at the same time the changes in poetic sensibility.”Read more
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On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume III
Writing guides are often full of ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ either too broad to be useful, so specific they don’t apply, or frustratingly vague. The On Writing and Worldbuilding series is here to change that. Volume III covers a whole new array of topics with applicable, clear, and practical discussions, be it writing character descriptions, compelling dialogue, or worldbuilding cities and towns for your world. While written with an edge for science fiction and fantasy, the help found in this book applies to all genres. Volume III stands entirely independent of the first two volumes with its own discussions.
With all this and more, On Writing and Worldbuilding is fundamental for anyone developing their skills in the writing craft.
ON WRITING
- Character descriptions
- Death scenes
- Dialogue
- Subtext in dialogue
- Darkest hours
- Plot armour
- Environmental descriptions
- Elemental magic systems
- Antiheroes
- Paragon heroes
ON WORLDBUILDING
- Death and the afterlife
- Cities and towns
- Mountains
- Island civilisations
- Fallen civilisations
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Oxford Literature Companions: A Streetcar Named Desire: Get Revision with Results (Oxford Literature Companions for A Level)
Easy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular A Level set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characterisation and role, genre, context, language, themes, structure, performance and critical views, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work wtih the text. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent AS/A level specifications.Read more
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Reading Stephen King
S T E P H E N K I N G has inspired millions of readers with his writing for more than four decades now, and this special volume of essays gathers together some of his high-pro le fans to discuss why they love reading Stephen King.
Many of these fans are acclaimed authors of ction in their own right. Some of them have written insightful books about Stephen King’s work, exploring how King’s natural storytelling gift has allowed him to create stories that reach people in every language around the world. A few of them have even written, produced, and directed movie adaptations of King’s most acclaimed works.
Inside this book you will join Clive Barker, Stewart O’Nan, Richard Chizmar, Frank Darabont, Stephen Spignesi, Justin Brooks, Tony Magistrale, Michael R. Collings, Rocky Wood, Robin Furth, Kevin Quigley, Hans-Åke Lilja, Billy Chizmar, Jack Ketchum, Bev Vincent, Mick Garris, and Jay Franco as they discuss their love of reading Stephen King…
BRIAN JAMES FREEMAN is the author of The Painted Darkness, Black Fire, Blue November Storms, More Than Midnight, Weak and Wounded, Dreamlike States, Lost and Lonely, The Halloween Children (with Norman Prentiss), Darkness Whispers (with Richard Chizmar), and Walking With Ghosts.
With Richard Chizmar, he is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams ten volume horror anthology series published by Random House imprint Hydra. He also edited the Halloween Carnival anthology series for Hydra.
Brian is the general manager of Cemetery Dance Publications and the publisher of Lonely Road Books. He is also the founder and publisher of Books to Benefit, a small press specializing in special Limited Edition books to raise funds for good causes.
Visit him on the web at BrianJamesFreeman.com
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£12.99Reading Stephen King
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Said and Done
Roger McGough is one of Britain’s best-loved poets, and something of a national institution. His name is ubiquitous with matter-of-fact Scouse humor, easy-going charm, and perfect observations of the idiosyncrasies of everyday life, whether you know him from his poetry, or from his regular broadcasts on television or radio. Roger first rose to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop group The Scaffold, who had two number one hits – “Thank U Very Much” and “Lily The Pink”. He began his poetry career performing with The Grimms, alongside fellow Liverpool poets Adrian Henri and Brian Patten, with whom he went on to publish “The Mersey Sound”, which remains the biggest-selling British poetry book ever. This is his autobiography – and like the best of his poetry it is packed full of hilarious observations, unbelievable stories, nostalgic reminiscences and bittersweet tales of love, life and loss. This work features his memories of growing up in Liverpool, playing in bombed out houses as a young boy, the skiffle-crazed days of his adolescence, through to his time at university – and his meetings there with Larkin. He explores his sudden, almost overnight fame and success with Mike McCartney et all in “The Scaffold”, as well as his time working with George Martin, and co-writing the “Yellow Submarine” film script for the Beatles, through his international touring days, to the present. He certainly has many a story to tell about meeting some fascinating characters; Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Marlon Brando, Alan Ginsberg, Pete McCarthy and Salman Rushdie all appear amongst others, but it’s his sheer story-telling nous, and his gift for observing the minutia of everyday life, and to completely capture a moment in time which sets this apart from other books. His life story is one that will be universally identifiable to those who grew up with him – who embraced the verve and irreverence of the sixties, only to end up as slightly embittered romantic cynics. This is has done here in the most funny, poignant, bittersweet, and melancholic autobiography you will read this year – a man whose hugely popular take on it all resonates with honesty and humour.Read more
£0.62Said and Done
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Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need
The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success.Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 “beats” (plot points) that comprise a successful story–from the opening image to the finale–this book lays out the Ten Story Genres (Monster in the House; Whydunit; Dude with a Problem) alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate–and a novel that will sell.
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Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a YA Bestseller
An indispensable guide in the bestselling Save the Cat! story structure series that reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any young adult novel a success, from an accomplished novelist and the author of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel.In Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, prolific author and story coach Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story structure guide for anyone who wants to write a young adult novel by applying the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of YA fiction. In this book, you will learn:
- The fifteen beats (or plot points) that are necessary for crafting a successful story with a compelling character arc –including the Opening Image, Catalyst, Fun and Games, Bad Guys Close In, Dark Night of the Soul, and Finale
- The ten universal story genres that will help you drill into what makes your type of story work, including those most commonly found in young adult novels like Rites of Passage, Superhero, Buddy Love, Institutionalized, and Golden Fleece
- Quirky, original insights and writing tips like “Save the Cat,” the “Shard of Glass,” and the “Dark Night Epiphany,” that help you craft a story that will thrill and captivate teen readers
Filled with practical advice, easy-to-follow templates, and beat sheets analyzing the structure of popular young adult novels such as Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, and Lois Lowry’s The Giver, this book is the ultimate reference for anyone who’s ever dreamed of writing their own young adult bestseller.
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The Architect’s Apprentice: Elif Shafak
A dazzling and intricate tale from Elif Shafak, Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World – chosen for the Duchess of Cornwall’s online book club The Reading Room
‘There were six of us: the master, the apprentices and the white elephant. We built everything together…’
Sixteenth century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.
So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan’s court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota’s back to the furthest corners of the Sultan’s kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan’s fortunes forever.
Filled with all the colour of the Ottoman Empire, when Istanbul was the teeming centre of civilisation, The Architect’s Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant caught up in a world of wonder and danger.
‘A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets, intrigue and romance’ The Times
‘Exuberant, epic and comic, fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience’ Financial Times
‘Fascinating. A vigorous evocation of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power’ Sunday Times
‘Intricate, multi-layered, resplendent, vividly evoked, beautifully written’ Observer
*** ELIF SHAFAK’S NEW NOVEL, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW ***
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£8.70£9.50The Architect’s Apprentice: Elif Shafak
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The Conjuror’s Apprentice: (The Tudor Rose Murders Book 1)
‘Right up there with C J Sansom… A brilliant historical thriller’ Philip Gwynne Jones
‘Thoroughly engaging… beautifully written’ Zoe Sharp
‘Engaging and compelling’ Mark Ellis
‘A rollicking tale with just the right pinches of sex and humour’ Shots MagazineFinding the battered body of a young boy was not unusual in Bloody Mary’s cruel England. However, the stabbed tongue, a false seal and strange letter implicate Princess Elizabeth, threatening to bring down the Tudor Dynasty.
Doctor John Dee and his secret apprentice, Margaretta, using his brilliant mind and her strange abilities, embark on a perilous journey to solve this brutal murder. Before their work can really begin, another body is found.
As Dee and Margaretta delve deeper into their investigation, they uncover a web of deceit, political intrigue and treachery that threatens to engulf them both. When more bodies are discovered and arrests are made, time is running out. With rumours of witchcraft and treason swirling around them, can they untangle the mystery before it’s too late?
‘The beginning of a wonderfully different Tudor crime fiction series’ Alis Hawkins
‘A wonderful debut’ Jules Swain
‘Absolutely spellbinding… alive with atmosphere and realism’ Chris LloydRead more
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The Histories (Penguin Classics)
‘The first example of non-fiction, the text that underlies the entire discipline of history … it is above all a treasure trove’ Tom Holland
One of the masterpieces of classical literature, The Histories describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus’ natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colourful digressions – a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; tales of lake-dwellers, dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, The Histories offers a compelling Greek view of the world in the fifth century BC, in Aubrey de Sélincourt’s elegant and celebrated translation.
Translated by AUBREY DE SÉLINCOURT
Revised with an Introduction and notes by JOHN MARINCOLARead more
£10.40£12.30The Histories (Penguin Classics)
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The House of Doors: Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIt is 1921 and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert’s, comes to stay.
Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day. But he is beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley’s friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she see him as he is – a man who has no choice but to mask his true self.
As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, revealing her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts – a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction.
From Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors is a masterful novel of public morality and private truth a century ago. Based on real events it is a drama of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.
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The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea: Yukio Mishima
A band of savage thirteen-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call ‘objectivity’. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship’s officer, he and his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard this disallusionment as an act of betrayal on his part – and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.Read more
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The Waste Land: A Biography of a Poem
** Chosen as a New Statesman, Financial Times, Observer and Sunday Times Book of the Year **
A riveting account of the making of T. S. Eliot’s celebrated poem The Waste Land on its centenary.
‘A rattling good story’ Sunday Telegraph
‘A work of art’ Times Literary SupplementThe Waste Land has been called the ‘World’s Greatest Poem’. It has been labelled the most truthful poem of its time; it has been branded a masterful fake. More than a century after its publication in 1922, T. S. Eliot’s enigmatic masterpiece remains one of the most influential works ever written.
In a remarkable feat of biography, Matthew Hollis reconstructs the creation of the poem and brings the material reality of its charged times vividly to life. He reveals the cultural and personal trauma that forged The Waste Land through the lives of its protagonists – Ezra Pound, who edited it; Vivien Eliot, who sustained it; and T. S. Eliot himself, whose private torment is woven into the seams of the work. The result is an unforgettable story of lives passing in opposing directions and the astounding literary legacy they would leave behind.
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£10.70£12.30The Waste Land: A Biography of a Poem
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VICTORIAN VERSE A Guide for Edexcel A level English Literature (9ET0/3)
The Guide has been written primarily for students of A Level English Literature as specified by Edexcel in the post-2015 syllabus (9ET0). It addresses Component 3 (9ET0/3) – Poetry, specifically, the requirement to study a “literary period”. The Guide covers all the poems in the literary period “The Victorians” as selected from “The New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse”, Editor Christopher Ricks (OUP, 2008). The Guide aims to address all the Assessment Objectives for the examination of this component. The poems are explored individually, but links and connections between them are drawn as appropriate. The format of each exploration is similar:•An overview of relevant contextual factors, such as biographical, social-economic, political and literary•An explanation of any key features of the poem that require additional explanation or illustration•A brief summary of the metric form and rhyme scheme•A “walk-through” (or explication) of the poem, ensuring that what is happening in the poem is understood, how the rhythm and rhyme contribute to meaning, an explanation of the meaning of words which may be unfamiliar, an exploration of imagery and language and a comment on main themes.Read more
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Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Modern Classics)
Her grand attempt to tell what she felt was the story of Jane Eyre’s ‘madwoman in the attic’, Bertha Rochester, Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea is edited with an introduction and notes by Angela Smith in Penguin Classics.
Born into the oppressive, colonialist society of 1930s Jamaica, white Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway meets a young Englishman who is drawn to her innocent beauty and sensuality. After their marriage, however, disturbing rumours begin to circulate which poison her husband against her. Caught between his demands and her own precarious sense of belonging, Antoinette is inexorably driven towards madness, and her husband into the arms of another novel’s heroine. This classic study of betrayal, a seminal work of postcolonial literature, is Jean Rhys’s brief, beautiful masterpiece.
Jean Rhys (1894-1979) was born in Dominica. Coming to England aged 16, she drifted into various jobs before moving to Paris, where she began writing and was ‘discovered’ by Ford Madox Ford. Her novels, often portraying women as underdogs out to exploit their sexualities, were ahead of their time and only modestly successful. From 1939 (when Good Morning, Midnight was written) onwards she lived reclusively, and was largely forgotten when she made a sensational comeback with her account of Jane Eyre’s Bertha Rochester, Wide Sargasso Sea, in 1966.
If you enjoyed Wide Sargasso Sea, you might like Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, also available in Penguin Classics.
‘She took one of the works of genius of the nineteenth century and turned it inside-out to create one of the works of genius of the twentieth century’
Michele Roberts, The Times
NOTE: The book is a 2000 reissue of a 1997 edition.
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£6.70£7.60Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Modern Classics)
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York Notes for AQA GCSE (9-1) Rapid Revision: The Sign of The Four – Refresh, Revise and Catch up!: – catch up, revise and be ready for 2022 and 2023 assessments and exams
Exam Board: AQA
Level: GCSE Grade 9-1
Subject: English Literature
No fuss, no stress — just a really quick way to refresh, revise and catch up!
- Quickly catch up on what you need to know about The Sign of the Four.
- Rapidly review all the essential topics, themes, contexts and quotations.
- Make the most of your time and focus on what matters most.
- Refresh and sharpen your study, writing and memory skills.
A fast and effective way to catch up on your knowledge of The Sign of the Four, Rapid Revision from York Notes has been carefully designed to provide everything you need to get back up to speed in no time at all.
Cleverly structured and very easy to use, this handy, portable catch-up guide will take you step-by-step through everything you need to know, remember and recall.
Whether you’re looking for a reliable way to get back on track, a super-speedy refresher, or if this is your first time studying Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of the Four, this Rapid Revision guide is brimming with everything you need to supercharge your success and race ahead to great results in all your assessments and exams.
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£3.80
