Books in the Cambridge Introductions to Literature series

The Cambridge Introduction to Twentieth-Century American Poetry is designed to give readers a brief but thorough introduction to the various movements, schools, and groups of American poets in the twentieth century. It will help readers to understand and analyze modern and contemporary poems.

This Introduction provides an accessible overview of the life and work of Tom Stoppard, widely considered to be one of the most important dramatists of contemporary theatre. In concise and readable form, William Demastes introduces all the complexity and variety that makes Stoppard's work so unique.

The Cambridge Introduction to Spanish Poetry comprises an extended survey of poetry written in Spanish from the Middle Ages to the present day, including both Iberian and Latin American writing. This volume offers a non-chronological approach to the subject in order to highlight the continuity and persistence of genres and forms (epic, ballad, sonnet) and of themes and motifs (love, religious and moral poetry, satirical and pure poetry). It also supplies a thorough examination of the various interactions between author, text and reader. Containing abundant quotation, it gives a refreshing introduction to an impressive and varied body of poetry from two continents, and is an accessible and wide-ranging reference-work, designed specifically for use on undergraduate and taught graduate courses. The most comprehensive work of its kind available, it will be an invaluable resource for students and teachers alike.

Shows how the novel yields a special insight into the social and cultural history of Britain 1950-2000. Includes chapters on the state and the novel, class and social change, gender and sexual identity, national identity and multiculturalism. This is the most accessible, and wide-ranging introduction to the subject available.

This introduction presents the major themes, forms and styles of Russian poetry. Using examples from Russia's greatest poets, Wachtel draws on three centuries of verse, from the beginnings of secular literature in the eighteenth century to the present.

This is an eloquent and accessible introduction to one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. This book provides biographical and contextual information, but more fundamentally, it also considers how we might think about an enduringly difficult and experimental novelist and playwright who often challenges the very concepts of meaning and interpretation. It deals with his life, intellectual and cultural background, plays, prose, and critical response and relates Beckett's work and vision to the culture and context from which he wrote. McDonald provides a sustained analysis of the major plays, including Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and Happy Days and his major prose works including Murphy, Watt and his famous 'trilogy' of novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable). This introduction concludes by mapping the huge terrain of criticism Beckett's work has prompted, and it explains the turn in recent years to understanding Beckett within his historical context.

Ezra Pound is one of the most visible and influential poets of the twentieth century. He is also one of the most complex, his poetry containing historical and mythical allusions, experiments of form and style and often controversial political views. Yet Pound's life and work continue to fascinate. This Introduction, first published in 2005, is designed to help students reading Pound for the first time. Pound scholar Ira B. Nadel provides a guide to the rich webs of allusion and stylistic borrowings and innovations in Pound's writing. He offers a clear overview of Pound's life, works, contexts and reception history and his multidimensional career as a poet, translator, critic, editor, anthologist and impresario, a career that placed him at the heart of literary modernism. This invaluable and accessible introduction explains the huge contribution Pound made to the development of modernism in the early twentieth century.

Mark Twain is a central figure in nineteenth-century American literature, and his novels are among the best-known and most often studied texts in the field. This clear and incisive Introduction provides a biography of the author and situates his works in the historical and cultural context of his times. Peter Messent gives accessible but penetrating readings of the best-known writings including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He pays particular attention to the way Twain's humour works and how it underpins his prose style. The final chapter provides up-to-date analysis of the recent critical reception of Twain's writing, and summarises the contentious and important debates about his literary and cultural position. The guide to further reading will help those who wish to extend their research and critical work on the author. This book will be of outstanding value to anyone coming to Twain for the first time.

Margaret Atwood offers an immensely influential voice in contemporary literature. Her novels have been translated into over 22 languages and are widely studied, taught and enjoyed. Her style is defined by her comic wit and willingness to experiment. Her work has ranged across several genres, from poetry to literary and cultural criticism, novels, short stories and art. This Introduction summarizes Atwood's canon, from her earliest poetry and her first novel, The Edible Woman, through The Handmaid's Tale to The Year of the Flood. Covering the full range of her work, it guides students through multiple readings of her oeuvre. It features chapters on her life and career, her literary, Canadian and feminist contexts, and how her work has been received and debated over the course of her career. With a guide to further reading and a clear, well organised structure, this book presents an engaging overview for students and readers.