Originally published in 1985, this book describes research on the ecological, structural, physiological, genetic and molecular factors that control morphogenesis in the higher fungi. The topics range from the relation between organism and substrate to problems associated with the production of mushrooms in commercial conditions, and include accounts of research on biochemical, molecular and structural aspects of mushroom fruit body development. Thus both pure and applied studies of the biology of basidiomycetes are included in this volume, which provides a detailed synthesis of the area, by authors of the highest calibre.

An outstanding collection, bringing together some of the leading historians of this period with some of the field's rising stars, which examines key issues in popular politics, the negotiation of power, strategies of legitimation,and the languages of politics. One of the most notable currents in social, cultural and political historiography is the interrogation of the categories of 'elite' and 'popular' politics and their relationship to each other, as well as the exploration of why andhow different sorts of people engaged with politics and behaved politically. While such issues are timeless, they hold a special importance for a society experiencing rapid political and social change, like early modern England.No one has done more to define these agendas for early modern historians than John Walter. His work has been hugely influential, and at its heart has been the analysis of the political agency of ordinary people. The essays in thisvolume engage with the central issues of Walter's work, ranging across the politics of poverty, dearth and household, popular political consciousness and practice more broadly, and religion and politics during the English revolution. This outstanding collection, bringing together some of the leading historians of this period with some of the field's rising stars, will appeal to anyone interested in the social, cultural and political history of early modern England or issues of popular political consciousness and behaviour more generally. MICHAEL J. BRADDICK is professor of history at the University of Sheffield. PHIL WITHINGTON is professor of history at the Universityof Sheffield. CONTRIBUTORS: Michael J. Braddick, J. C. Davis, Amanda Flather, Steve Hindle, Mark Knights, John Morrill, Alexandra Shepard, Paul Slack, Richard M. Smith, Clodagh Tait, Keith Thomas, Phil Withington, Andy Wood, Keith Wrightson.

Four friends, colleagues and poets - Karen Head, Blake Leland, JC Reilly and Robert Wood - gave themselves an extraordinary yearlong assignment: write a poem each month based on a holiday or seasonal event. On Occasion: Four Poets, One Year is the thrilling results.

The year is 1300 and Dante Aligheri is lost in a dark wood with no plan, not even a clue. But Heaven conspires and brings him a guide, the Roman epic poet, Virgil. Together, they begin the most arduous leg of Dante's journey to salvation: the journey through Hell. The poem is part travelogue, part cautionary tale, a Medieval catalogue of every possible way one could lose one humanity, but is neither gratuitous nor penny-dreadful: it is a necessary part of Dante's education. The road is long and hard and we are lucky to have Fr. Woods with us on the road, to lead us as Virgil leads Dante, pointing out the sights and providing the background we need to understand a journey that is not limited to the Middle Ages, but is the journey of every Christian soul to God.

T. S. Eliot had moved on to Drama and was uncertain whether he would ever write poetry again, but some lines he had cut from his first play, Murder in the Cathedral, stuck in his imagination. They became seeds. And, in the tumult preceding the Second World War, the seeds began to sprout. This was the genesis of Eliot's final suite of poems, the Four Quartets. Each poem saw separate publication before they were bound together into a single unit. There are four poems: one for each of the base elements of physical reality air, earth, water and fire. Each poem is connected to a place the poet revisits in memory: Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvage and Little Gidding . As a whole it constitutes a brilliant meditation on time, eternity and those timeless moments when the two intersect. Eliot is a notoriously difficult poet, known for his wide allusions to the entire of the European poetic canon. In this poem he also alludes to the ancient scriptures of India. Luckily, Father Woods is available as tour guide, to lead you profitably through this literary adventure.

Socrates goes by night to a party given by the tragic poet Agathon. On there, a discussion breaks out on the nature of romantic love which issues in a competition of speeches in praise of love. Behind it all, putting the strings of this shadow play, is Plato. He was too young to have attended the event, so, what is his interest in telling its story? And how, moreover, is philosophy related to romantic love. In writing his great "dialogue," Symposium proved that a book of philosophy could also be a work of art. Here we attempt to disentangle this great and beautiful work and find the meaning in Plato's art.

The chief problem with Purgatorio is Inferno. Dante wanted to write a universal epic, like Homer's or Virgil's, but the botched and blighted souls he met in Hell were of no use. They could care less about the truth. So, in the second stage of his epic, Dante must play catch up. This he does brilliantly in the one of the most insightful depictions of the developmental psychology of sainthood since St. John Climacus. The Holy Mountain is Hell in reverse, allowing Dante to develop a system by which virtues are inculcated in the soul. The seven deadly sins are undone and the pilgrimage ends with a return to innocence (the Garden of Eden) where sacred rivers erase the pilgrim's memories of their sins and enhance their memories of good deeds. But all this brilliance comes at a cost. Unlike, Inferno, which was all downhill, Purgatorio can be an uphill battle. Luckily, Fr. Woods is available as tour guide, to explain abstruse Medieval terminology and concepts (there are some) and to point out the many spectacular views along the way.