For the first time available in paperback, this classic anthology provides readers with important literary works composed during the Middle English period (1100-1500) in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The editors provide glosses for all unfamiliar words and obscure phrases and every selection refers to at least one definitive edition where details of recent scholarship can be found. Modern punctuation and capitalization are used throughout and variant spellings are kept to a minimum to avoid...

Twice Wainwright Prize-longlisted author Alice Vincent offers a stunning meditation on why women are drawn to the soil, featuring contributions from Ali Smith, Hazel Gardiner and Cosey Fanni Tutti

The Sunday Times bestseller'A monumental, gripping book ... Outstanding' Sunday TimesWherever there is human judgement, there is noise.

The inspiring novels that have left a significant mark on the world of literature and popular culture.

Celebrated music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of the legendary Joni Mitchell

Japanese Literature: From Murasaki to Murakami provides a concise introduction to the literature of Japan that traces its origins in the seventh century and explores a literary legacy—and its cultural contexts—marked by the intersection of aristocratic elegance and warrior austerity. Coverage extends to the present day with a focus on the complex twists and turns that mark Japan’s literature in the modern period. In under one-hundred pages of narrative, Marcus’s account of Japanese litera...

This book demonstrates how authors performing the role of a public intellectual discuss ideas and opinions regarding society while using literary strategies and devices in and beyond the text. Their assumed persona thereby reads the world as a book - interpreting it and offering alternative scenarios for understanding it.

This clear and engaging book offers readers an introduction to European Literary History from antiquity through to the present day. Each chapter discusses a short extract from a literary text, whilst including a close reading and a longer essay examining other key texts of the period and their place within European Literature. Offering a view of Europe as an evolving cultural space and examining the mobility and travel of literature both within and out of Europe, this guide offers an introduc...