Books in the Cambridge Companions to Literature series

This 2004 volume offers an introduction to British literature that challenges the traditional divide between eighteenth-century and Romantic studies. The volume focuses on broad themes including taste and aesthetics and pays close attention to the work of individual writers including Sterne, Blake, Barbauld and Austen.

In the last fifty years Irish poets have produced some of the most exciting poetry in contemporary literature. This Companion includes a chronology and guide to further reading and will prove invaluable to students and teachers alike.

This Companion is the most comprehensive introduction to Dreiser's work available. It establishes new parameters for both scholarly and classroom discussion of Dreiser, and provides fresh perspectives on Dreiser's writing as well as on topics of perennial interest, such as his representation of the city and his prose style.

Traditionally known as the first professional woman writer in English, Aphra Behn has now emerged as one of the major figures in Restoration literature. With its full bibliography, detailed chronology and biographical information, this Companion will be an essential tool for the study of this increasingly important writer and thinker.

This 2004 Companion provides a full introduction to the famed pioneer of both the Elizabethan stage and modern English poetry, Christopher Marlowe. Sixteen leading scholars provide accessible and authoritative chapters and the volume includes a chronology of Marlowe's life, a note on reference works, and a reading list for each chapter.

This Companion offers thirteen original essays by leading scholars of a major American modernist novelist. The essays collected here cover the full range of Cather's career including most of her novels and short stories. A detailed chronology and guide to further reading offer a fresh introduction to this enigmatic author.

This Companion offers critical overviews of the major literary genres and social contexts that define the study of the literatures produced by the First World War. It examines the impact of the war on various national literatures and concludes by addressing the legacy of the war for twentieth-century literature.

John Dryden was one of the great literary figures of the late seventeenth century. This Companion provides a fresh look at the full range of Dryden's work in the context of his time, and includes a chronology of Dryden's life and times and a guide to further reading.

This Companion offers a broad overview of the Latin American novel's history and analyses in depth several representative works by, for example, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Machado de Assis, Isabel Allende and Mario Vargas Llosa. Students of Latin American studies and comparative literature will find this a stimulating and indispensable guide.

This provides fresh perspectives on the frequently read classic Uncle Tom's Cabin, as well as on topics of perennial interest, such as Stowe's representation of race, her attitude to reform, and her relationship to the American novel. Accessible and engaged, this is the most comprehensive introduction available to Stowe's work.

Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel Invisible Man is one of the most important and controversial novels in the American canon and remains widely read and studied. This Companion provides an introduction to this influential and significant novelist and critic and to his masterpiece.

The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov provides a concise introduction to one of the twentieth century's most important writers, covering Nabokov's style, preoccupations, and evolution as a writer and the impact of his controversial masterpiece Lolita. The 2005 volume also contains a chronology of his life and a guide to further reading.

This Companion provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview of American literary modernism from 1890 to 1939. These original essays by twelve distinguished scholars offer critical overviews of the major genres, literary culture, and social contexts that define the state of Modern American literature and cultural studies.

This collection of essays provide a comprehensive survey of one of America's greatest living playwrights, Edward Albee, and includes an exclusive, original interview with Mr Albee, on topics spanning his whole career. Written in an engaging and accessible way, the book will appeal equally to students, scholars, and theatre-goers.

This 2004 Companion provides perspectives on Hawthorne's classic works, and on topics such as Hawthorne's relationship to history, to women, politics, and early America. The book brings together a team of leading international scholars to offer a comprehensive introduction to Hawthorne's work and life.

John Dryden was one of the great literary figures of the late seventeenth century. This Companion provides a fresh look at the full range of Dryden's work in the context of his time, and includes a chronology of Dryden's life and times and a guide to further reading.

This second edition contains several revised essays, reflecting increasing emphasis on Joyce's politics and the changes wrought by gender studies on criticism of his work. The volume is stimulating and full of rich and accessible insights which will provoke thought and discussion in and out of the classroom.

The Cambridge Companion to Spenser provides an accessible and rigorous introduction to Spenser. Fourteen specially commissioned essays provide all the essential information required to appreciate and understand Spenser's rewarding and challenging work. A chronology and further reading lists make this volume indispensable for any student of Spenser.

This collection of specially written essays offers both student and theatregoer a guide to one of the most celebrated American dramatists working today. The volume covers the full range of Mamet's writing, as well as his films, such as The Verdict and Wag the Dog.

In the last fifty years Irish poets have produced some of the most exciting poetry in contemporary literature. This Companion includes a chronology and guide to further reading and will prove invaluable to students and teachers alike.

This second edition of the Companion offers students up-to-date factual and interpretative material about the principal theatres, playwrights and plays of the most important period of English drama, from 1580-1642. All the essays have been revised and their references updated; the substantial biographical and bibliographical section has been expanded.

The Cambridge Companion to Writing of the English Revolution analyzes a range of literary and political writings that are central to understanding both the history and political thought of the period. These specially-commissioned essays provide an invaluable examination and explanation of this crucial period in English history and literature.

Offers a comprehensive account of his life and work, providing a rounded contemporary appraisal of Central Europe's most distinctive Modernist. Contributions cover all the key texts, and discuss Kafka's writing in a variety of critical contexts such as feminism, deconstruction, psycho-analysis, Marxism, Jewish studies.

In this Companion to one of the greatest writers of classical antiquity - and arguably the single most influential ancient poet for post-classical literature and culture - leading authorities provide essential information about Ovid, his individual works and his influence on later literature and art, together with exciting critical approaches.

Few American playwrights have exerted as much influence on the contemporary stage as Sam Shepard. Specially-commissioned essays in this Companion explore Shepard's career: his life, plays, poetry, music, fiction, acting, directing and film work.

The Cambridge Companion to Henry David Thoreau is an accessible guide to reading and understanding the works of Thoreau. Presenting essays by a distinguished array of contributors, the Companion is a valuable resource for historical and contextual material, and helps the reader come to Thoreau's writings, as he would say, 'deliberately and reservedly.'

This 2002 volume provides an accessible, wide-ranging and informed introduction to Shakespeare's history and Roman plays. It offers chapters on the individual plays as well as accounts of the genre of the history play and includes genealogical tables and a list of principal and recurrent characters.

This volume brings together new essays representing the latest scholarly thinking on the novelist's work, including Madame Bovary, and his critical legacy. The essays combine textual analysis with theoretical and contextual considerations of Flaubert's work and influence. This invaluable book includes a chronology and suggestions for further reading.

John Updike is one of the most prolific and important American authors working today, with an acclaimed body of work spanning half a century. With a chronology and bibliography of Updike's published writings, this is the only guide students and scholars of Updike will need to understand this extraordinary writer.

John Updike is one of the most prolific and important American authors working today, with an acclaimed body of work spanning half a century. With a chronology and bibliography of Updike's published writings, this is the only guide students and scholars of Updike will need to understand this extraordinary writer.