A sweeping compendium of British verse from Old and Middle English to the present, including the best work of poets from every corner of the British Isles, "The Columbia Anthology of British Poetry" offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive single volume available.

Carl Woodring and James Shapiro, the same experienced editorial team who brought students and lovers of literature "The Columbia History of British Literature," now present a volume that resonates with contemporary significance, yet also takes into account the centuries-old poetic tradition that planted Great Britain centrally in the canon of Western Literature.

"The Columbia Anthology" pays tribute to the renowned works that any include--Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Blake, Eliot, Auden. But the book also resurrects the voices of excellent poets, particularly women--such as Queen Elizabeth I, Anne Ingram, and Christina Rossetti--who have been unjustifiably ignored until recently.

Contemporary British poetry is fully represented as well, with the work of Thom Gunn, Seamus Heaney, Liz Lochhead, and Paula Meehan bringing "The Columbia Anthology" up to the minute.

Unencumbered by extensive notes that divert attention from the spirit of verse, "The Columbia Anthology of British Poetry" allows readers to discover the poems for themselves. It is a collection poetry lovers will want on their shelves for years to come, to read and enjoy again and again.

Delving into the hotly debated issues surrounding the relevance of the humanities in today's society, this spirited and engaging book analyzes the history and current status of literary study in America. Carl Woodring -- who played a central part in organizing Columbia University's Society of Fellows in the Humanities, which oversees the core program devoted to monumental works of civilizations and art -- casts an astute eye on the culture wars, chastising both the radicals who have jettisoned humanism and the conservatives who reject any challenge to prevailing tastes.

After examining the history of cultural, political, and commercial influences on literary study in North America from the early 1800s to the late 1990s, Woodring turns to the present state and future course of the university itself, discussing the larger institutional context of the contemporary humanities. From the role of technology in classrooms and libraries to needed changes in the tenure system, from the effect of the current emphasis on research and publication to helpful advice for young teachers, "Literature: An Embattled Profession" offers critical insights into ways to rescue the profession of literary study from insularity and dissension. Finally, Woodring delivers a devastating analysis of the bloated administrations that act as Ph.D. factories and show no regard for the future of the scholars they produce.

Dans un recit bouleversant, Viviane Forrester nous presente une Virginia Woolf chatoyante, desopilante et meurtrie, differente certainement de la legende batie par son mari Leonard... Une femme qui eut a subir son genie, a s'efforcer de le faire accepter par les siens. Une femme qui aura pu dire: Je sens dans mes doigts le poids de chaque mot, avant de repondre a l'etreinte promise par la mort en allant se noyer, les poches pleines de pierres, dans la riviere Ouse. Un suicide dont on decouvrira des causes, jusqu'ici enfouies.Nouvelle edition mise a jour.Cette magnifique biographie pulverise la legende de Virginia et Leonard - la folie maniaco-depressive de l'une; la pieuse devotion de l'autre - en melant a la precision de l'enquete litteraire la force vive d'une ecriture romanesque. Nils C. Ahl, Le Monde des livres. Goncourt de la biographie 2009.