Books in the Literature in Context series

Bertolt Brecht in Context examines Brecht's significance and contributions as a writer and the most influential playwright of the twentieth century, along with his continued impact on theater around the world. It also examines Brecht's contributions to revolutionary thought and to poetry and his response to twentieth-century German history.

This collection covers the range of Hardy's works and their social and intellectual contexts, providing a comprehensive introduction to Hardy's life and times. Featuring short, lively contributions from forty-four international scholars, the volume is a contextual reference for scholars of Victorian and modernist literature as well as the general reader.

Comprising thirty-two fresh essays and a detailed chronology, this collection presents Ralph Waldo Emerson in the philosophical, aesthetic, theological, scientific, familial, social and political contexts in which he thought and wrote, and surveys the popular and critical reception that made him a complex national and international icon.

This book of lively essays examines the life and writing of Auden by considering them in a variety of historical, social, cultural and literary contexts. Written by distinguished scholars and poets with a wide readership in mind, these essays offer helpful and informative models for engaging with Auden's poetry.

In short, lively and eminently readable chapters, an unprecedented number of aspects of Samuel Johnson's world is covered. Richly illustrated, with a chronology of Johnson's life and works and an extensive bibliography, this book is a major new work of reference on eighteenth-century culture and the age of Johnson.

Written by the leading experts in the field, the essays in this volume will appeal to scholars, students and interested readers alike. Encompassing biographical, historical, cultural and literary-critical approaches, this book offers a fresh, lively and accessible presentation of a great many of the facets of Proust's life and work.

Concise and illuminating articles explore the context within which Wilde's life and art took shape, proposing not one but many Oscar Wildes. Contributors discuss the ongoing influence and reception of Wilde and his work, from performance history to film and operatic adaptations, providing an enriched understanding of this complex individualist.

Charles Dickens, a man so representative of his age as to have become considered synonymous with it, demands to be read in context. This book illuminates the worlds - social, political, economic and artistic - in which Dickens worked.

T. S. Eliot in Context provides an authoritative and comprehensive examination of those biographical, historical and critical contexts essential to the fullest understanding of T. S. Eliot's challenging and controversial work. Drawing on original research, this collection provides a valuable resource for scholars, students and general readers.

In this book, established and emergent Jonson scholars react to major advances in thinking about the writer and his canon of works. Generously illustrated throughout, the first part of the volume considers Jonson's career from biographical, critical, and performance-based angles; the second looks at cultural and historical contexts.

This is the first volume to summarize and analyze the multiple contexts of Pound's work, drawing on new archival, textual and theoretical studies. It situates Pound in the social and material realities of his time and will be invaluable for students and scholars of Pound and modernism.

This volume investigates the various ways in which Milton's works and experiences emerged from the culture and events of his time. In a series of concise, engaging essays, an international group of scholars examines both the social conditions and the broader intellectual currents that shaped his writings and reputation.

In this book, established and emergent Jonson scholars react to major advances in thinking about the writer and his canon of works. Generously illustrated throughout, the first part of the volume considers Jonson's career from biographical, critical, and performance-based angles; the second looks at cultural and historical contexts.

Jane Austen in Context is a generously illustrated collection of short, lively contributions arranged alphabetically, and covering topics from biography to portraits and agriculture to transport. This is a work of reference that readers and scholars of Austen will turn to again and again.

Jane Austen in Context is a generously illustrated collection of short, lively contributions arranged alphabetically, and covering topics from biography to portraits and agriculture to transport. This is a work of reference that readers and scholars of Austen will turn to again and again.

Covering a range of topics - biographical, social, literary, and intellectual - and addressing both the sources of his work and how he influenced later writers, this exploration of the world of John Keats (1795-1821) enriches our understanding of one of Britain's greatest poets and letter writers.

This collection charts the vital contextual backgrounds to James Joyce's life and writing. The essays collectively show how Joyce was rooted in his times, how he is both a product and a critic of his multiple contexts, and how important he remains to the world of literature, criticism and culture.

This collection charts the vital contextual backgrounds to James Joyce's life and writing. The essays collectively show how Joyce was rooted in his times, how he is both a product and a critic of his multiple contexts, and how important he remains to the world of literature, criticism and culture.

This collection of thirty-five lively and accessible essays offers a comprehensive account of the life and work of Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-81), set within social, political, cultural and literary contexts.

William Wordsworth in Context offers thirty-five concise and readable chapters on the essential contexts for understanding all aspects of the leading English Romantic poet. It discusses Wordsworth's life, family and friendships, his critical reception, and key aspects of the cultural, historical, political, and scientific contexts in which he wrote.

Concise and illuminating articles explore the context within which Wilde's life and art took shape, proposing not one but many Oscar Wildes. Contributors discuss the ongoing influence and reception of Wilde and his work, from performance history to film and operatic adaptations, providing an enriched understanding of this complex individualist.

Written by the leading experts in the field, the essays in this volume will appeal to scholars, students and interested readers alike. Encompassing biographical, historical, cultural and literary-critical approaches, this book offers a fresh, lively and accessible presentation of a great many of the facets of Proust's life and work.

Thirty-eight authoritative and lively essays by an international team of scholars examine a full range of Blake's works from lyrical songs to later myth, from writing to artworks, situating them in historical and cultural contexts. Research driven yet accessibly written, the essays will appeal to students, teachers, and academic experts alike.

Short, lively, and eminently readable chapters, written by leading experts in early modern studies, illuminate various aspects of Donne's life, work, career, and reputation. These engaging chapters are supplemented by a chronology of Donne's life and works and a comprehensive bibliography.

Provides crucial biographical, critical, historical, and cultural context for the works of Mary Wollstonecraft, Britain's first feminist and political theorist. Leading scholars provide students and scholars of eighteenth-century feminism, literature, social, and political theory with essential background to understand Wollstonecraft's diverse writing.

Indispensable for understanding the historical, cultural and intellectual contexts of Nabokov's work for students of English, American and Russian literary and cultural studies. This book is also essential reading for established scholars wanting to keep up with the new approaches and methodologies in Nabokov studies which this collection showcases.

This book is for an academic readership in Latin American and world literatures. It offers unprecedented coverage of the principal contexts in which leading Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) read and wrote, including family and Argentine history, the Western cultural tradition, both learned and popular, and the Middle East.

This book guides readers through the global scope and prolific imagination of Pynchon's canonical work, providing the most up-to-date and authoritative scholarly analyses of his writing. It will be of interest to students, graduates and instructors studying and teaching Thomas Pynchon.