SPECIAL COMMENDATION in Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century. The series is illustrated throughout with maps and black and white photographs. A history of Africa from the 16th to the 18th centuries, this study concentrates on the continuing evolution of African states and cultures, the increase in external trade, and the consequences of the slave trade. The seriesis co-published in Africa with seven publishers, in the United States and Canada by the University of California Press, and in association with the UNESCO Press.

'The Family Shakspeare: in which nothing is added to the original text, but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read in a family.' These words on the title pages of this edition gave rise to the verb 'to bowdlerise' - to remove or modify text considered vulgar or objectionable. Although the first edition was in fact created by Henrietta Maria Bowdler (1750 1830) and published in 1807, the many subsequent editions were published under the name of her brother Thomas (1754 1825), who devoted his time to prison reform and chess, as well as the sanitising of Shakespeare. The Bowdlers' work became enormously popular as the scandal-ridden Regency gave way to Victorian respectability. This volume, from the 1853 edition, contains Troilus and Cressida, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Cymbeline.

Henry Irving, the influential and controversial Victorian actor, was closely involved in the publication of this distinctive Shakespeare edition. As an actor, his concern was largely with the intellectual project of seeing each play as a unified work, rather than with producing strong emotional effects in the audience. In the words of his obituary in The Times, he appealed to scholars 'by his reverent and often acute treatment of the text', and accustomed playgoers to look for 'more than empty amusement'. To the edition, he brought a sense of the plays in performance which has never been equalled before or since. Addressing a general readership, he both included notes on cuts used by professional companies and suggested others that would facilitate amateur performances. Gordon Browne's illustrations, which suggest the contemporary styles of stage costume, are another attractive feature of this edition, which will appeal to Shakespearians and theatre historians alike.

This is the fifth volume in a ten-volume series of the critical old-spelling texts of the plays in the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, in which the texts are established on modern bibliographical principles. Each play is introduced by a discussion of the text, has variant readings in footnotes, and is followed by full textual notes and lists of press-variants, emendations of accidentals and historical collations.

New essays providing a in-depth view of the many facets of the great world poet's work. Friedrich Schiller is not merely one of Germany's foremost poets. He is also one of the major German contributors to world literature. The undying words he gave to characters such as Marquis Posa in Don Carlos and Wilhelm Tell in the eponymous drama continue to underscore the need for human freedom. Schiller cultivated hope in the actualization of moral knowledge through aesthetic education and critical reflection, leading to his ideal of a more humane humanity. At the same time, he was fully cognizant of the problems that attend various forms of idealism. Yet for Schiller, ultimately, love remains the gravitational center of the universe and of human existence, and beyond life and death joy prevails. This collection of cutting-edge essays by some of the world's leading Schiller experts constitutes a milestone in scholarship. It includes in-depth discussions of the writer's major dramatic and poeticworks, his essays on aesthetics, and his activities as historian, anthropologist, and physiologist, as well as of his relation to the ancients and of Schiller reception in 20th-century Germany. Contributors: Steven D.Martinson, Walter Hinderer, David Pugh, Otto Dann, Werner von Stransky-Stranka-Greifenfels, J. M. van der Laan, Rolf-Peter Janz, Lesley Sharpe, Norbert Oellers, Dieter Borchmeyer, Karl S. Guthke, Wulf Koepke. Steven D.Martinson is Professor of German at the University of Arizona.

A landmark in female historiography, this work first appeared in eight volumes between 1763 and 1783. Notable for her radical politics and her influence on American revolutionary ideology, Catharine Macaulay (1731 91) drew diligently on untapped seventeenth-century sources to craft her skilful yet inevitably biased narrative. Seen as a Whig response to David Hume's Tory perspective on English history, the early volumes made Macaulay a literary sensation in the 1760s. Later instalments were less rapturously received by those critics who took exception to her republican views. Both the product and a portrait of tumultuous ages, the work maintains throughout a strong focus on the fortunes of political liberty. Volume 5 (1771) covers the momentous period following the execution of Charles I in 1649 through to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660."

Originally published in 1892 as part of the Pitt Press Series, this book presents the text of the fifth and sixth books of Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Raphael tells Adam and Eve of the war between God and Satan. The poem is accompanied by a biography of Milton, a history of the poem, a discussion of the cosmology of Paradise Lost and other scholarly appendices. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Milton and the history of Paradise Lost.

In 1743, the appointment of a new archbishop of York, Thomas Herring (1693-1757), led to the creation of one of the most useful historical records of parish life in eighteenth-century England. This five-volume edition of visitation returns was first published between 1928 and 1931. It contains the responses made by hundreds of clergymen to the archbishop's enquiries as to the social and religious character of their parishes. Incorporating records detailing clerical matters and covering subjects ranging from the number of families in residence to the popularity of Methodism and the provision of schools, these volumes comprise, in the words of the editors, 'a collection of facts which are valuable for the economic and social, as well as the ecclesiastical history of England'. Volume 5 contains biographical notes, an index of place names and an index of persons.

The literary career of Anna Seward (1742-1809) had many frustrations. Erasmus Darwin once printed her poetry under his own name. Horace Walpole accused her of having 'no imagination'. And despite her evident talents, she was unable to find a patron willing to support a woman. Yet her letters reveal the breadth of her interests and the strength of her literary criticism. In addition to writing to newspapers and magazines, she counted many eminent figures among her correspondents, including James Boswell (who begged for a lock of her hair) and the young Walter Scott. This six-volume selection of her letters, edited by the publisher Archibald Constable (1774-1827), first appeared in 1811. Full of Seward's characteristic good humour, Volume 5 covers the years 1797-1801. It features her reflections on slavery, the disinclination of the young toward a religious life, and the troubled state of Ireland, alongside frank accounts of the rheumatism that plagued her middle age.

Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1829-1902) was a distinguished Victorian historian of the seventeenth century who coined the term 'Puritan Revolution' and was noted for his use of and editorial work on primary sources. This ten-volume work was published in 1883-4, though he had already published eight volumes on the period 1603-37, of which the first two were considerably revised for this edition; and in later works he continued the story through the Civil War, the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. The series was highly regarded in its time, and reprinted often, although it was not without its critics. Gardiner aimed at writing 'scientific history', relying on the facts to speak for themselves. This fifth volume spans the period 1623-5, and includes chapters covering Prince Charles' journey to Madrid, the dissolution of the Spanish treaties, the last days of James I, and the first Parliaments of Charles I at Westminster and Oxford.

Narcissus Luttrell (1657 1732) was a civil servant and book collector, best remembered for the detailed record he kept of the political and diplomatic events of the late seventeenth century. After attending St Johns College, Cambridge, Luttrell was called to the Bar in 1680. He served as Justice of the Peace for Middlesex between 1693 and 1723 and was twice elected to the House of Commons. These volumes, first published in 1857, contain Luttrell's detailed diary. Arranged by month, this work provides a rich and valuable account of events between 1678 and 1714, including the political turmoil that led to the flight of James II and the accession of William and Mary. Volume 5 covers the years 1701 5, describing in detail political and social reactions to the death of William III and the accession of Queen Anne, and the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800 59) was one of the foremost nineteenth-century historians in the Whig tradition, which saw history as a series of developments towards enlightenment and democracy. He believed that the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 had preserved England from the constitutional upheavals suffered by much of Europe in 1848. Using a wider range of sources, including popular literature, than was then usual, and written in an accessible, novelistic rather than academic style, this five-volume work proved hugely influential upon contemporary historians and phenomenally successful with the public, although it was not without its critics. Volume 5 was unfinished at the author's death; the text was edited by Macaulay's sister, Lady Trevelyan, and published in 1861. It covers the period from 1697 until 1702, and includes a description of the death, in 1702, of William, regarded by Lady Trevelyan as her brother's hero.

Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), the English writer and printer best known for his epistolary novels, including Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1748), had preserved copies of his extensive correspondence with a view to its eventual publication, and these volumes, edited by Anna Laetitia Barbauld and first published in 1804, contain her selection from his papers. Richardson became a printer's apprentice in 1706 and for the rest of his life managed a successful printing business in addition to writing his highly popular and influential novels. After the success of Pamela, Richardson regularly corresponded with leading contemporary literary figures including Henry Fielding and Samuel Johnson. The letters provide fascinating insights into Richardson's life and literary and social activities, as well as discussions of current affairs. Volume 5 contains his correspondence with (among many others) Samuel Johnson.

While Ben Jonson's political visions have been well documented, this study was the first to consider how he threaded his views into the various literary genres in which he wrote. For Jonson, these genres were interactive and mutually affirming, necessary for negotiating the tempestuous politics of early modern society, and here some of the most renowned Jonson scholars provide a collection of essays that discuss his use of genre. They present perspectives on many of Jonson's major works, from his epigrams and epistles, through to his Roman tragedies and satirical plays like Volpone. Other topics examined include Jonson's diverse representations of monarchy, his ambiguous celebrations of European commonwealths, his sexual politics, and his engagement with the issues of republicanism. These essays represent the forefront of critical thinking on Ben Jonson, and offer a reassessment of the author's political life in Jacobean and Caroline Britain.

Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84) is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of English literature, as a poet, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. This collected edition of his works - commissioned by the publisher within hours of Johnson's death, such was his celebrity - was published in 1787 in eleven volumes, edited by his literary executor, the musicologist Sir John Hawkins. Volume 5 contains the first part of The Rambler, the periodical published by Johnson twice a week between 1750 and 1752. Modelled on Addison's Spectator, the essays address a wide range of social, religious, political and literary themes, and are not exclusively by Johnson himself: there are contributions by others, particularly women writers such as Hester Chapone and Elizabeth Carter. The Rambler adopted an 'elevated' style, and topics range from criticism of the emerging novel genre to discussions of humanitarian issues such as prostitution and capital punishment.

W. E. H. Lecky (1838 1903) was one of the most distinguished Victorian historians. He was unusual in the extent to which he made use of archival sources, and noted for his ability of do justice to both sides of an argument. His History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century was first published as part of A History of England in the Eighteenth Century, but was reissued in 1892 as a five-volume work. He has been described as the first revisionist Irish historian, as the aim of the book was partly to respond to Froude's The English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century, which is markedly anti-Irish in its sentiments. Lecky was no nationalist, and opposed Home Rule, but wanted to provide a more truthful and balanced account, and his account of the United Irishmen and the events of 1798 was highly regarded. Volume 5 covers the period 1798 1800.

German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795 1886) is well known for pioneering the modern historical method which advocates empiricism, rather than a focus on the philosophy of history. Emphasizing the importance of presenting history exactly as it happened, Ranke asserted that different eras need to be understood in their own contexts rather than in relation to each other: history should not be regarded as one long, teleological narrative. These principles of writing history, established in earlier publications, are all evident here. Originally published in eight volumes between 1859 and 1869, Ranke's history, 'principally in the seventeenth century', was first published as a six-volume history in English by the Clarendon Press in 1875, the mammoth task of its translation distributed among eight Oxford dons. Volume 5 focuses on William III, ending with the reigns of Anne, George I, and George II; an appendix gives source material from contemporary documents.

The Quarto text of Henry V is of unique importance. It is the first and probably the only text of a Shakespeare play which provides the playscript corresponding to the version that was actually performed by Shakespeare's own company. It has the authority of being transcribed by actors in the company as a record of their original staging at the Globe in 1599. The quarto version differs radically from the First Folio text which is used as the source for all other editions. Half as long as the Folio, it represents a practical staging text that streamlined the script supplied by Shakespeare. This edition of the Henry V quarto provides a modernized text alongside the extensive commentary. Andrew Gurr examines each variant from the Folio text in detail, shedding new light on what happened to scripts that the Shakespeare company bought from their resident playwright.

This 1996 book offers an original approach to Shakespeare's so-called 'problem plays' by contending that they can be viewed as experiments in the Mannerist style. The plays reappraised here are Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure. How can a term used to define a movement in art history be made relevant to theatrical analysis? Maquerlot shows how famous painters of sixteenth-century Italy cultivated structural ambiguity or dissonance in reaction to the classical canons of the High Renaissance. Close readings of Shakespeare's plays, from the period 1599 to 1604, reveal intriguing analogies with Mannerist art and the dramatist's response to Elizabethan formalism. Maquerlot concludes by examining Othello, which marks the end of Shakespeare's Mannerist experiments, and the less equivocal use of artifice in his late romances.

This is the first stage history of Shakespeare's King Henry V to cover the play's theatrical life since 1599. Staging this play is a political act, and the substantial Introduction traces its theatrical interventions into conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to Vietnam and the Falklands. The stage and film history raises interpretative questions--is Henry V an epic of English nationalism, a knowing and cynical piece of power politics, or an anti-war manifesto? The volume also includes the play text, illustrations and detailed footnotes about major performances.

The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emphasis on performance. The series features line-by-line commentaries and textual notes on the plays and poems. Introductions are regularly refreshed with accounts of new critical, stage and screen interpretations. For this second edition of King Henry V, Shakespeare's most celebrated war play, Andrew Gurr has added a new section to his introduction in which he considers recent criticism and important contemporary productions of the play. Concentrating in particular on 'secret' versus 'official' readings of the work, he analyses Shakespeare's double vision of Henry as both military hero and self-seeking individual, and shows how the patriotic declarations of the Chorus are contradicted by the play's dramatic action. Controversial sequences are placed in the context of Elizabethan thought while the exceptional variety of language and dialect in the text is also studied. An updated reading list completes the edition.

This volume is a collection of five satires from the Reformation period, written between 1517 and 1526. In her Introduction to the work, Rummel explains that the battle between reformers and champions of the old faith was waged on many fronts, "not only by preachers thundering from the pulpits, theologians facing each other in acrimonious disputations, and church authorities issuing censures and condemnations." This collection focuses on the impact and importance of a supporting cast of satirists whose ad hoc productions reached a wider audience, in a more visceral manner, than the rational approach which typified scholarly theological arguments. Rummel explains: "Satire, a genre that requires finely honed language skills, was the preferred weapon of the humanists, who by and large sympathizes with the reformers." The humanists and reformers were often so closely associated in the reading publicas mind that the earliest phase of the Reformation was sometimes interpreted as a quarrel between philogists and theologians, a manifestation of professional jealousies. Thus Erasmus claimed that the debates of his time were the result of antagonism between the faculties of Arts and Theology. Three of the selections contained in the volume represent the Reformers, and two support the Catholics, the "Papists" of the title. These satirical essays, circulated widely among educated laypersons, use wit and biting humor to ridicule and discredit their adversaries and belong to a genre which was part of a larger body of sixteenth-century satire. The proliferation of satires became a concern of authorities who moved to suppress what they called "hate-mongering." Officials banned the publication ofanonymously authored writings, effectively ending the publication of the satires, which were largely published either anonymously or carried only the name of the publisher. As a result, many of the pieces did not survive to the present day, many more are only known to us through obscure references in other literature. This volume brings to light five of these satiric pieces, written in the pivotal period when the Reformation ceased to be a protest and organized itself as a full-fledged movement. The topical issues featured in each satire are brought into historical context by a headnote explaining the circumstances surrounding its publication and giving bibliographical information about the satireas author. The witty style makes this collection entertaining reading and the impact of these writings sheds new light on the history of the Reformation.

This is the fifth volume of essays by actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre on their interpretations of major Shakespearian roles. The twelve essays discuss fourteen roles in twelve different productions between 1999 and 2002. The productions covered include three plays not featured before in the series: The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Antony and Cleopatra. The contributors are Philip Voss, Ian Hughes, Aidan McArdle, Zoe Waites, Matilda Ziegler, Alexandra Gilbreath, Antony Sher, David Tennant, Michael Pennington, Simon Russell Beale, Richard McCabe, Frances de la Tour and the late Nigel Hawthorne. The title roles in three of the major tragedies - Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth - are covered and there is also an essay on Iago in Othello. A brief biographical note is provided for each of the contributors and an introduction places the essays in the context of the Stratford and London stages.

In Milton and the Parables of Jesus, David V. Urban examines Milton's self-referential use of figures from the New Testament parables in his works of poetry and prose. Urban's informative introduction explores the history of parable interpretation and the writings of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Reformed biblical commentators, including John Calvin, Matthew Poole, and John Trapp, whose approaches to interpreting the parables resemble Milton's own. Urban then goes on to analyze Milton's early poetry and prose; his great epic, Paradise Lost; and his final major poetic works, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. By chronologically tracing Milton's habit of identifying himself both directly and indirectly with figures represented in Jesus's parables, Urban delves deeply into the development of Milton's attitudes toward himself, God, and society. This comprehensive study opens up a new avenue of inquiry regarding Milton's hermeneutic of parables and his writings as a whole. Urban's insightful analysis will be invaluable to scholars and students of John Milton, early modern Christianity and literature, and the Reformation.

Ian Watt examines the four myths of the modern world, Faust, Don Juan, Don Quixote, and Robinson Crusoe, and their resonance and influence on modern literature and society.