Upon publication in 1791-92, the two parts of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man proved to be both immensely popular and highly controversial. An immediate bestseller, it not only defended the French revolution but also challenged current laws, customs, and government. The Routledge Guidebook to Paine's Rights of Man provides the first comprehensive and fully contextualized introduction to this foundational text in the history of modern political thought, addressing its central themes, reception, and influence. The Guidebook examines: the history of rights, populism, representative governments, and challenges to monarchy from the 12th through 18th century; Paine's arguments against monarchies, mixed governments, war, and state-church establishments; Paine's views on constitutions; Paine's proposals regarding suffrage, inequality, poverty, and public welfare; Paine's revolution in rhetoric and style; the critical reception upon publication and influence through the centuries, as well as Paine's relevance today. The Routledge Guidebook to Paine's Rights of Man is essential reading for students of eighteenth-century American and British history, politics and philosophy, and anyone approaching Paine's work for the first time.

Upon publication in 1791-92, the two parts of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man proved to be both immensely popular and highly controversial. An immediate bestseller, it not only defended the French revolution but also challenged current laws, customs, and government. The Routledge Guidebook to Paine's Rights of Man provides the first comprehensive and fully contextualized introduction to this foundational text in the history of modern political thought, addressing its central themes, reception, and influence. The Guidebook examines: the history of rights, populism, representative governments, and challenges to monarchy from the 12th through 18th century; Paine's arguments against monarchies, mixed governments, war, and state-church establishments; Paine's views on constitutions; Paine's proposals regarding suffrage, inequality, poverty, and public welfare; Paine's revolution in rhetoric and style; the critical reception upon publication and influence through the centuries, as well as Paine's relevance today. The Routledge Guidebook to Paine's Rights of Man is essential reading for students of eighteenth-century American and British history, politics and philosophy, and anyone approaching Paine's work for the first time.

A beautiful young heroine-A cruel and unfeeling mother-A one-eyed spy-A mesmerist-A lunatic asylum. These are the perfect components for a Victorian sensation novel, and in "The Rose and the Key," J. Sheridan Le Fanu weaves them into a thrilling Gothic mystery.

The terror builds slowly, as young Maud Vernon and her old cousin Maximilla enjoy a sketching tour through Wales. Ominously, they find themselves shadowed by a sinister one-eyed man. And when they return to Roydon Hall, Maud's home, things become yet worse. Her mother, the imperious Lady Vernon, seems to loathe her, and there are other concerns as well-a mysterious will, an intimidating man clothed all in black, and the satanic mesmerist Doctor Antomarchi. Le Fanu slowly unfolds his plot, building the mystery and suspence until the shocking climax, where Maud escapes her cruel mother to visit the home of the great Lady Mardykes, only to find that she has escaped one hell, only to enter one far worse

This edition is the first to follow the original text, as serialized in Charles Dickens's weekly "All the Year Round" in 1871. Featuring notes, the text of contemporary reviews, and contextual documents such as a letter from Dickens to Le Fanu, this is the first-ever scholarly edition of the novel. Highlighting this edition is a groundbreaking new introduction by Frances Chiu, which argues for consideration of "The Rose and the Key" as Le Fanu's statement on the troubled relations between England and Ireland and calls for a reevaluation of his ideology and politics.

King Henry III is holding court at Kenilworth. Festivities abound, wine flows copiously, and spirits are high as the King and his subjects prepare to celebrate the nuptials of Sir Gaston de Blondeville. But the joyous mood is interrupted when a merchant, Hugh Woodreeve, comes distraught before the King to demand justice. His kinsman, he claims, was murdered, by the very man the King has come to honour -- Gaston de Blondeville Suspecting a conspiracy against Gaston, yet obliged to hold a trial to determine the truth of the allegations, Henry imprisons Woodreeve in a tower while awaiting a hearing. Meanwhile, sinister forces are at work, represented by an evil abbot, who will stop at nothing to ensure the truth behind Woodreeve's claims is never revealed. As the trial unfolds and the danger mounts for both Woodreeve and Gaston, a mysterious figure will come from beyond the grave to elucidate the horrible mystery The only one of Radcliffe's novels to feature a real ghost, "Gaston de Blondeville" was published posthumously in 1826. This edition, the first-ever scholarly edition of the novel, features a new introduction by Frances Chiu, uncoding the novel's long-hidden political, historical, and religious contexts. A wealth of supplementary materials, including excerpts from other primary texts and the complete text of contemporary reviews, is also provided to enhance modern readers' understanding of the novel's themes.