The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature

Gr 8 Up—This fourth edition offers 5500 alphabetically arranged entries that have been diligently revised or updated since the third edition. Changes include expanded coverage of lesser-known areas of English literature, such as black British, African, postcolonial, gay and lesbian, women's, and children's literature. Significant upgrades were also made in entries covering science fiction, biography, and American and travel literature. Back matter now includes a chronology of literary works extending from Vercelli, Exeter, Cædmon, and Beowolf to the pro-democracy Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 and lists of Poet Laureates, Children's Laureates, and literary awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Carnegie Medalists, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, the King's and Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, and the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Most entries are clear and concise but they can be lengthier when the situation requires it. The entry on William Shakespeare, for example, fills nearly two-and-a-half pages. Many entries have in-text cross references and others direct readers to links on a companion website. The end result is an inexpensive, relatively lightweight volume packed with facts about English literature that some students will approach with the same level of enthusiasm others exhibit when they browse through the World Almanac or Guinness Book of World Records. To compress this treasure trove of facts on English literature into a single, compact volume is a major accomplishment.—Margaret Myhre, Foley Library, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA