From a first-time published author comes this collection of short stories which follows the tales of Luke Armstrong, an all-American boy, who encounters glory and misfortune. Follow Luke from his childhood on the waterfront through his career and retirement from a US intelligence agency. Meet the people, places and times which molded Luke Armstrong from the 1960's to today. During times in his life, the character finds himself in idiotic situations, lost romances and plagued by death of fr...

Tracing the history of tragedy and comedy from their earliest beginnings to the present, this book offers readers an exceptional study of the development of both genres, grounded in analysis of landmark plays and their context. It argues that sacrifice is central to both genres, and demonstrates how it provides a key to understanding the grand sweep of Western drama. For students of literature and drama the volume serves as an accessible companion to over two millennia of drama organised b...

British culture has changed almost beyond recognition since 1956. Angry young men have been displaced by Yuppies, Elvis by the Spice Girls, and meat and two veg by continental cuisine. What is more, as the death of Diana, Princess of Wales showed, the British are now more famous for a trembling lower lip than a stiff upper one.This volume, the last in the series, examines the transformations in literature and culture over the last forty years. An introductory essay provides a conte...

This book traces the phenomenon of class from the medieval to the postmodern period, uniquely examining its relevance to literary and cultural analysis. Drawing on historical, sociological and literary writings, Gary Day: * gives an account of class at different historical moments * shows the role of class in literary constructions of the social * examines the complex relations between 'class' and 'culture' * focuses attention on the role of class in constructions of 'the literary' and 'th...

Sir Frank Kermode is acknowledged as one of the greatest critics of our time, renowned for the wit humanity and good sense of his writing. Pleasing Myself brings together the very best of his shorter pieces, on topics ranging from Donne and Yeats to modern art and money.

Having earned an international reputation with his booker-prize-winning novel, The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro is fast emerging as an important cultural figure of our times.In this guide to Ishiguro’s varied and often experimental work, Wai-chew Sim presents:a biographical survey of Ishiguro’s literary career, and an introduction to his novels, plays and short storiesan accessible overview of the contexts and many interpretations of...

First published in 1983, this book focuses on the twentieth-century writer as both a product, and an interpreter, of his or her society. It explores the social basis of our conceptions of literature and the ways in which writing is affected by the media, institutional and technical, through which it reaches readers. The text looks at experiences of the period in terms of domestic and world affairs, sexuality, and philosophical and religious attitudes. It discusses the social and economic s...

Examining the gradual change that has shaped the political, economic, and cultural life of the 20th century, socialist thinker Raymond Williams offers interesting arguments that remain timely for contemporary readers. In this new edition of the classic text, Williams' study of education and the press traces the development of a common language, revealing links between ideas, literary forms, and social history. A groundbreaking analysis with ongoing relevance in the new century, it not only...

A History of English Literature: Traversing the Centuries provides a comprehensive outline of the course of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day. In its fourteen chapters, the book covers all major literary periods with inclusive analyses of the political, social and intellectual developments which inevitably contribute to and influence literature in both overt and subtle ways. The survey includes all important literary figures and their significant literary works...

The seminal history of Ireland’s most unusual century, thoroughly updated for the new millennium.With its starting point the bloody creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, Ireland: A Social and Cultural History explores how Irish identity has shifted across eighty years of unprecedented change and violence. What was the legacy of De Valera and Sinn Fein – or of remaining neutral during the Second World War? What were the effects of the establishment of a formally recognised Repub...

An accessible, helpful guide for any student of Milton, whether undergraduate or graduate, introducing readers to the scope of Milton's work, the richness of its historical relations, and the range of current approaches to it. This second edition contains several new and revised essays, reflecting increasing emphasis on Milton's politics, the social conditions of his authorship and the climate in which his works were published and received, a fresh sense of the importance of his early poem...