Edmund Burke prided himself on being a practical statesman, not an armchair philosopher. Yet his responses to specific problems - rebellion in America, the abuse of power in India and Ireland, or revolution in France - incorporated theoretical debates within jurisprudence, economics, religion, moral philosophy and political science. Moreover, the extraordinary rhetorical force of Burke's speeches and writings quickly secured his reputation as a gifted orator and literary stylist. This Companion provides a comprehensive assessment of Burke's thought, exploring all his major writings from his early treatise on aesthetics to his famous polemic, Reflections on the Revolution in France. It also examines the vexed question of Burke's Irishness and seeks to determine how his cultural origins may have influenced his political views. Finally, it aims both to explain and to challenge interpretations of Burke as a romantic, a utilitarian, a natural law thinker and founding father of modern conser
?Read what you enjoy, not what bores you,” Nick Hornby tells us. That simple, liberating, and indispensable directive animates each installment of the celebrated critic and author’s monthly column in
This brilliant collection of nonfiction essays from the New York Times bestselling author covers a vast array of topics including, but not limited to, the importance of genre, Isaac Newton and metaphy
These inspiring essays from the celebrated poet Eavan Boland are both critical and deeply personal, revealing the adventure, passion, and struggle of becoming a woman poet. In this thematic sequel to
This volume excavates the biblical and classical sources behind three early modern treatises that denounce the numerous sins of the tongue that cause damage in the Elizabethan society.
"It takes a particular kind of man," writes Howard Jacobson, "to want an embroidered polo player astride his left nipple. Occasionally, when I am tired and emotional, or consumed with self-dislike, I
An itinerant preacher amongst churches of east London and Essex, Ives offers a biography of Nicoll (1851-1923), a minister in the Free Church of Scotland who resigned when his lungs were damaged by di
Lewis Thompson (1909–1949) was primarily a poet, a man of letters influenced by Eastern spiritualism and the poets Rimbaud and Rilke. As Richard Lannoy, the editor of Fathomless Heart, writes, Thompso
Ostermark-Johansen (English, U. of Copenhagen, Denmark) offers a significant contribution to the history of Victorian art and thought with this thorough examination of Walter Pater's writings and his
This volume brings together sixteen essays on British, Irish and American poets from the late nineteenth century to the present day. It offers a series of entertaining and compelling readings of the l
A series of linked essays about the adventure, passion, and struggle of becoming a woman poet, examining the work of such women poets as Adrienne Rich and Elizabeth Bishop.
A Radiant Life presents the unequivocal voice of Nuala O'Faolain tackling a vast range of subjects from Catholicism to feminism, from Sinatra to Africa, and from Irish American culture to Islam and t
Bringing together work composed from 1890 to 1924, the nineteen pieces collected in the posthumously published Last Essays (1926) serve as a primer to Conrad's wide interests and to the varieties of his style. This edition, supported by an extensive textual apparatus, brings together various prose pieces, including reminiscences, reviews, essays on the sea and politics, as well as several miscellaneous items, including his 'Congo Diary' and the other notebook he kept in Africa in 1890. The introduction situates these writings in Conrad's career, offers new perspectives on Conrad in the marketplace and as a writer of occasional prose and traces the contemporary reception of the volume. The notes explain literary and historical references, identify real-life places and indicate Conrad's main sources. Early drafts and notes for several essays are published here for the first time, making this authoritative critical edition a major contribution to Conrad studies.
"[These essays] reflect a lively, unselfconscious, rigorous, erudite, and earnestly open mind that's busy refining its view of life, literature, and a great deal in between." -Los Angeles Times Split
John Kinsella is known internationally as the acclaimed author of more than thirty books of poetry and prose, but in tandem with — and often directly through — his creative and critical work, Kinsell
The multidisciplinary aesthetics of Walter Pater, the nineteenth century's most provocative critic, are explored by an international team of scholars. True aesthetic criticism takes place working acr
Spanning the years in which Virginia Woolf penned her classic novel The Waves and worked on Flush, the nonfiction pieces in this fifth volume provide further insight into Woolf’s creative genius and s
