Barthes: A Very Short Introduction
Jonathan Culler
Roland Barthes: A Very Short Introduction elucidates the varied theoretical contributions of Roland Barthes, whose lifelong fascination was with the way people make their world ...
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The Beats: A Very Short Introduction
David Sterritt
The Beats: A Very Short Introduction offers an overview of the social, cultural, and aesthetic sensibilities of the Beats, bringing out the similarities that connected them, ...
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Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction
John Sutherland
Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction shows that bestseller lists monitor one of the strongest pulses in modern literature and are therefore worthy of serious study. It lifts ...
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C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction
James Como
Beloved by children and adults worldwide, the writings of C. S. Lewis have a broad and enduring appeal. Although best known for the iconic Chronicles of Narnia series, C. S. Lewis was a man ...
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Charles Dickens: A Very Short Introduction
Jenny Hartley
Charles Dickens is credited with creating some of the world’s best-known fictional characters, and is widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian age. Charles Dickens: A Very ...
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Children's Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Kimberley Reynolds
Children's Literature: A Very Short Introduction provides an overview of the history of children's literature as it has developed in English, introducing key debates, ...
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Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Sabina Knight
Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction tells the story of Chinese literature from antiquity to the present, focusing on the key role literary culture played in ...
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Colonial Latin American Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Rolena Adorno
Colonial Latin American Literature: A Very Short Introduction provides a vivid account of the literary culture of the Spanish-speaking Americas from the time of Columbus to ...
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Comedy: A Very Short Introduction
Matthew Bevis
Comedy: A Very Short Introduction studies written forms of comedy such as prose fiction, poetry, caricatures, and cartoons. There are also performance forms of comedy such as ...
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Comparative Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Ben Hutchinson
Comparative literature is both the past and the future of literary studies. Its history is intimately linked to the political upheavals of modernity: from colonial empire-building in the ...
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Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
Robert Eaglestone
Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction explores a wide and diverse field, now global in dimension, with an enormous range of novels and writers that continues to grow ...
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Crime Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
Richard Bradford
Crime Fiction: A Very Short Introduction explores the history of ‘crime fiction’ and the various definitions of the genre and considers how it has developed over time. ...
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Dante: A Very Short Introduction
Peter Hainsworth and David Robey
Dante: A Very Short Introduction examines the main themes and issues that run through all of Dante’s work, ranging from autobiography, to understanding God, and the order of ...
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Decadence: A Very Short Introduction
David Weir
Decadence: A Very Short Introduction provides an overview of the culture of decadence—the artistic expression of a conflicted sense of modernity—by tracing its origin in ...
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Dictionaries: A Very Short Introduction
Lynda Mugglestone
Dictionaries: A Very Short Introduction demonstrates that dictionaries are not merely works which list the words and meanings of a language. They are human products, reflecting ...
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English Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Jonathan Bate
English Literature: A Very Short Introduction considers such diverse topics as the birth of the novel, the brilliance of English comedy, the deep Englishness of landscape ...
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Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction
Marina Warner
The characters and images of fairy tales have cast a spell over adults and children for centuries. These fantastic stories have travelled across cultural borders, and been passed on from ...
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French Literature: A Very Short Introduction
John D. Lyons
French Literature: A Very Short Introduction examines texts that portray protagonists whose adventures and conflicts reveal shifts in literary and social practices. It explores ...
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Geoffrey Chaucer: A Very Short Introduction
David Wallace
Originally writing over 600 years ago, Geoffrey Chaucer is today enjoying a global renaissance. Why do poets, translators, and audiences from so many cultures and different parts of the ...
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German Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Nicholas Boyle
German writers, from Luther and Goethe to Heine, Brecht, and Günter Grass, have had a profound influence on the modern world. German Literature: A Very Short Introduction traces the course ...
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