Peter Raby

A Companion to one of the world's leading writers.

The Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter

Discusses travellers such as Sir Joseph Banks, Heinrich Barth, Henry Walter Bates, George Bentham, Margaret Brooke, Hugh Clapperton, Captain James Cook, Charles Darwin, General Sir Rufane Donkin, Francis Galton, Sir Joseph Hooker, Sir William Hooker, Alexander von Humboldt, Thomas Henry Huxley, Sir Harry Johnston, Mary Kingsley, John Lander, Richard Lander, Sir Charles Lyell, Marianne North, Richard Owen, Mungo Park, Captain James Ross, Richard Spruce, Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Waterton, and others.

Victorian Scientific Travellers

Bright Paradise

The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde offers an essential introduction to one of the theatre's most important and enigmatic writers. Although a general overview, the volume also offers some of the latest thinking on the dramatist and his impact on the twentieth century. Part One places Wilde's work within the cultural and historical context of his time and includes an opening essay by Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland. Further chapters also examine Wilde and the Victorians and his image as a Dandy. Part Two looks at Wilde's essential work as playwright and general writer, including his poetry, critiques, and fiction, and provides detailed analysis of such key works as Salome and The Importance of Being Earnest among others. The third group of essays examines the themes and factors which shaped Wilde's work and includes Wilde and his view of the Victorian woman, Wilde's sexual identities, and interpreting Wilde on stage. This 1997 volume also contains a detailed chronology of Wilde's work, a guide to further reading, and illustrations from important productions.

The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde

Harold Pinter was one of the world's leading and most controversial writers, and his impact and influence continues to grow. This Companion examines the wide range of Pinter's work - his writing for theatre, radio, television and screen, and also his highly successful work as a director and actor. Substantially updated and revised, this second edition covers the many developments in Pinter's career since the publication of the first edition, including his Nobel Prize for Literature win in 2005, his appearance in Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape and recent productions of his plays. Containing essays written by both academics and leading practitioners, the volume places Pinter's writing within the critical and theatrical context of his time and considers its reception worldwide. Including three new essays, new production photographs, five updated and revised chapters and an extended chronology, the Companion provides fresh perspectives on Pinter's work.

This new biography of Wallace traces the development of one of the most remarkable scientific travelers, naturalists, and thinkers of the nineteenth century. With vigor and sensitivity, Peter Raby reveals his subject as a courageous, unconventional explorer and a man of exceptional humanity. He draws more extensively on Wallace's correspondence than has any previous biographer and offers a revealing yet balanced account of the relationship between Wallace and Darwin.

A Life

Alfred Russel Wallace

Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol

THE STORY: The corrupt, squabbling bureaucrats of a provincial Russian hamlet are suddenly shocked to learn that a Government Inspector is about to pay them a visit--incognito. In this panic they jump to the conclusion that a young stranger recently

The Government Inspector

Kerry Powell

Oscar Wilde was a courageous individualist whose path-breaking life and work were shaped in the crucible of his time and place, deeply marked by the controversies of his era. This collection of concise and illuminating articles reveals the complex relationship between Wilde's work and ideas and contemporary contexts including Victorian feminism, aestheticism and socialism. Chapters investigate how Wilde's writing was both a resistance to and quotation of Victorian master narratives and genre codes. From performance history to film and operatic adaptations, the ongoing influence and reception of Wilde's story and work is explored, proposing not one but many Oscar Wildes. To approach the meaning of Wilde as an artist and historical figure, the book emphasises not only his ability to imagine new worlds, but also his bond to the turbulent cultural and historical landscape around him - the context within which his life and art took shape.

Oscar Wilde in Context

Dramatization of Alexander Dumas' novel set in the court of Louis XIII of France. The adventures of D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as they fight for King and country.

Adapted from Alexandre Dumas' Novel

The Three Musketeers

Analyzes both the social context and the literary artistry of Oscar Wilde's comedic play

A Reader's Companion

The Importance of Being Earnest

A Biography

Samuel Butler

The remarkable life and career of Harriet Smithson Berlioz, a talented actress who became a symbol of the Romantic spirit.

A Life of Harriet Smithson Berlioz

Fair Ophelia

Oscar Wilde

'A fabulously rich, anecdotal and gripping account of those men and women who ventured out from Britain into the swamps and jungles of the tropics in search, knowingly or not, of the missing link. Through their stoical-sometimes crack-brained-voyages, the shape of the world, geographically and biologically, was elucidated. Never have more significant journeys been made. . . . Enthusiastic, informed and racy, this is one of the most invigorating accounts of the exploits of people from an age whose intrepidity is staggering. ' 'Peter Raby's book follows a disparate crew of botanists, scientists and collectors, who tried to order the earthly paradise which unfolded around them. Entrepreneurs they may have been - many were dependent on selling their specimens to finance their trips-but they were also scrupulous and sensitive observers. . . . Raby finds some shimmering, personalities. . . . His book is excellent. ' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Concise and illuminating articles explore Oscar Wilde's life and work in the context of the turbulent landscape of his time.

Peter Raby

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