Dividing the county of Hertfordshire into four broad regions—the "champion" countryside in the north, the Chiltern dip slope to the west, the fertile boulder clays of the east, and the unwelcoming London Clay in the south—this volume explains how, in the course of the middle ages, natural characteristics influenced the development of land use and settlement to create a range of distinctive landscapes. The great diversity of Hertfordshire's landscapes makes it a particularly rewarding area ...

This book is about the map of an English county – Hertfordshire – which was published in 1766 by two London mapmakers, Andrew Dury and John Andrews.For well over two centuries, from the time of Elizabeth I to the late 18th century, the county was the basic unit for mapping in Britain and the period witnessed several episodes of comprehensive map making. The map which forms the subject of this book followed on from a large number of previous maps of the county but was greatly superio...

"This collection of letters provides a fascinating insight into the life of a complex and important novelist. It is a wonderful book." —Alexander McCall Smith, national bestselling authorIris Murdoch was an acclaimed novelist and groundbreaking philosopher whose life reflected her unconventional beliefs and values. But what has been missing from biographical accounts has been Murdoch's own voice—her life in her own words. Living on Paper—the first major col...

'...Without surpriseI see him now in evil company.A wicked face – but oh those eyes could charm –Heart, sudden heart, don’t beat me to my knees.'**Long hidden in an attic, vivid and revelatory poems shine a new light on the life and loves of Iris Murdoch.*As seen in the Guardian***With an introduction by Booker-shortlisted author Sarah Hall, and an essay from the editors.***In the dusty attic o...

This largely chronological study of Iris Murdoch's literary life begins with her fledgling publications at Badminton School and Oxford, and her Irish heritage. It moves through the novels of the next four decades and concludes with an account of the biographical, critical and media attention given to her life and work since her death in 1999.

A novel in the bestselling quartet about two very different women and their complex friendship: "Everyone should read anything with Ferrante's name on it" ( The Boston Globe).The follow-up to My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name continues the epic New York Times–bestselling literary quartet that has inspired an HBO series, and returns us to the world of Lila and Elena, who grew up together in post-WWII N...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • A simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the tender relationship between mother and daughter in this “spectacular” (The Washington Post) novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kitteridge and The Burgess Boys.“An aching, illuminating look at mother-daughter devotion.”—PeopleA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, T...

A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Louise Penny's The Long Way Home is an intriguing Chief Inspector Gamache Novel.Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he'd only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. "There is a balm in Gilead," his neighbor Clara Morro...

When facing a moral dilemma, Isabel Dalhousie--Edinburgh philosopher, amateur detective, and title character of a series of novels by best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith--often refers to the great twentieth-century poet W. H. Auden. This is no accident: McCall Smith has long been fascinated by Auden. Indeed, the novelist, best known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, calls the poet not only the greatest literary discovery of his life but also the best of guides on how to ...

To consider comedy in its many incarnations is to raise diverse but related questions: what, for instance, is humour, and how may it be used (or abused)? When do we laugh, and why? What is it that writers and speakers enjoy - and risk - when they tell a joke, indulge in bathos, talk nonsense, or encourage irony? This Very Short Introduction explores comedy both as a literary genre, and as a range of non-literary phenomena, experiences and events. Matthew Bevis studies the classics of comic...

This volume brings together specially commissioned essays by some of the world's leading experts on the life and work of W. H. Auden, one of the major English-speaking poets of the twentieth century. The volume's contributors include a prize-winning poet, Auden's literary executor and editor, and his most recent, widely acclaimed biographer. It offers fresh perspectives on his work from Auden critics, alongside specialists from such diverse fields as drama, ecological and travel studies. I...

Focusing on examples of live performance in drama, dance, opera and light entertainment, Jane Goodall explores a characteristic as compelling and enigmatic as the performers who demonstrate it.The mysterious quality of ‘presence’ in a performer has strong resonances with the uncanny. It is associated with primal, animal qualities in human individuals, but also has connotations of divinity and the supernatural, relating to figures of evil as well as heroism. Stage Presence ...