Literature

"Anyone who's ever been fascinated by The Magnificent Seven or a Marvel Comics movie that brings together a team of great epic heroes for a noble cause will understand the archetype and the paradigm that animates Apollonius's version of the ancient myth of the Argo, in which an assemblage of highly charismatic pre-Trojan War heroes embarks on a daunting adventure. This new edition of the epic can play an invaluable role in any number of classes that involve ancient literature or that focus on heroic quests in literature of any period. Readers will be able to understand not only the story itself, but also the culture that produced it, and, further, the complicated and sometimes inconsistent values of heroism and nobility, which are both celebrated and challenged in Apollonius's great poem 
—Michael Calabrese, Professor of English, Cal State LA and translator of Piers Plowman: The A Version, revised edition (Catholic University of America Press)

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This Expanded Second Edition of Jackson Crawford’s 2015 translation of the Poetic Edda offers a wider range of poems (now including the Eddic Old Norse poem “Svipdagsmal” and four related non-Eddic Old Norse poems, “Eiriksmal,” “Hakonarmal,” “Krakumal,” and “Lokrur”) as well as a revised translation and enhanced editorial apparatus. Set in a new page design, it also features samples from the Old Norse texts written in the Old Norse runic alphabet known as the Younger Futhark (in Jackson Crawford’s hand) along with original Old Norse-inspired Latin alphabet typographical ideograms (by E. L. Wilson).

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The Wanderer's Journal, a pocket-sized (4" x 6") notebook, features a smyth-sewn binding with a ribbon marker and a flexible hardcover with a copper foil embossed image of Odin's ravens, Hugin and Munin, stamped on the front. In addition to 148 blank ruled pages, the journal includes 13 illustrated rune pages with rune translations on the reverse pages. The rune illustrations by E.L. Wilson are based on Dr. Jackson Crawford’s handwritten runes from 13 verses he selected from the Norse poem Hávamál. The translations are sourced from Dr. Crawford’s frank and down-to-earth translations from "The Cowboy Hávamál," included in his 2019 Hackett Publishing book, The Wanderer’s Hávamál. The Old Norse was written with the sixteen-letter Younger Futhark runic alphabet, which is used in this journal.

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"I am a huge fan of Whobrey’s translations. These new English translations of Kudrun, Wolf Dietrich, and Otnit uphold the quality to which I’ve grown accustomed in his work. They do an excellent job of capturing the language and cadence of the texts, and are as accurate, readable, and fluent as the original texts allow them to be.
     "I especially love the texts Wolf Dietrich and Otnit, and I’m thrilled they are now available for the first time in English translation. They are such fun to read, and I hope that students find their hapless heroes as entertaining and humorous as I do.
      "In short, it is a delight to read Whobrey’s English translations of these tales, and I’m excited to teach with them."
—Kathryn Starkey, Stanford University

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"Arnson Svarlien's translation offers fresh insight into three of Aristophanes's greatest comedies. The verse flows smoothly, and throughout it is stressed that these plays belong on a stage, with guidance on how that might be accomplished. At the same time, the detailed Introduction and interpretative notes on every page show that both Arnson Svarlien and Storey are deeply committed to presenting a vibrant, modern Aristophanes, and to giving the tools needed for readers and actors to form their own opinions on matters of ongoing scholarly controversy."
—C.W. Marshall, FRSC, Professor of Greek, The University of British Columbia

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"Faithful to the original Danish text and eminently readable, Jech's translation of Fear and Trembling admirably communicates the literary qualities of Kierkegaard's text, as well as his occasional fits of inspiration. Jech displays an unusual sensitivity not only to the literary/linguistic qualities of Kierkegaard’s prose, but also to his (often realized) aspirations to philosophical precision. As presented by Jech, Kierkegaard is not simply a gifted writer and speculative theologian dabbling in philosophy, but a philosopher concerned to limn the optimal role of philosophical reflection, and to do so experimentally, especially with respect to matters of morality and faith. The translation is furthermore supplemented by very helpful explanatory notes that convey Kierkegaard’s own erudition and the multiple influences upon his thinking. The Historical Glossary will become a valuable reference tool for students and scholars of Kierkegaard’s writings. It is likely to play a welcome role in encouraging an improved understanding of what Kierkegaard means when he employs his idiosyncratic categories, allusions, and vocabulary." —Daniel Conway, Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Texas A&M University

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"The musicality of Deborah Roberts' translation of Aeschylus' Persians, the earliest Greek tragedy that has come down to us, rivals the playwright's own astonishing lyricism. She crafts extended speeches by the drama's characters into captivating set-pieces of performance poetry. Roberts also replicates Herodotus' celebrated storytelling energy in her translation of the passages from his Histories included in this volume. In her Introduction, Roberts examines Aeschylus' drama and Herodotus' representations of Persian culture as crucial records of ancient Greek conceptions of otherness and perceptively appraises the Persians itself as a sober contemplation upon the shared human toll of political ambition and warfare’s traumas and grief, making this book urgently relevant to contemporary audiences."
—James Bradley Wells, PhD, Edwin L. Minar Professor of Classical Studies, DePauw University

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** Awarded the MLA’s Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione prize for a translation of a literary work (December 2024). **

The prize committee’s citation: "In the three Spanish comedias included in Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain, which appear together and in English for the first time, the seemingly rigid social hierarchies that form the setting of so many comedias are put to the test when three talented Black men break through the racial barriers. Michael Kidd’s selection of plays will appeal to students of literature, history, cultural studies, and the African diaspora. The plays themselves are framed between a highly informative preface and introduction and an extensive annotated glossary of people and places. However, it is the accessibility, fluidity, and vibrancy of language that make this volume an excellent choice for all readers to experience and enjoy in English the same kind of wordplay that was integral to the Spanish comedia of the early modern period."

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Remarkable products of a nation deeply implicated in the Atlantic slave trade, the seventeenth-century Spanish plays Juan Latino, The Brave Black Soldier, and Virtues Overcome Appearances appear together in English for the first time in this volume. The three protagonists not only defy the period’s color-based prejudices but smash through its ultimate social barrier: marriage into the white nobility. Michael Kidd’s fluid translations and extensive critical introduction, bibliography, and glossary are enhanced by Hackett’s title support webpage. Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain is essential reading for students of theater history, Spanish literature, and the African diaspora.

Additional Online Resources: Illustrations and maps referenced in the book are available for free on the title support page.

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“John K. Thornton’s new book is another must-read. It contains both translations of the extant letters of the most significant king of Kongo’s history, Afonso I (r. 1506–1542), and a powerful, learned, and highly readable analysis of what these letters tell us about the life and times of one of the most important rulers anywhere in the world during the sixteenth century. This book will be essential reading for scholars, teachers, and students engaged with the history of the Kingdom of Kongo.”
—Toby Green, King’s College London

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This new edition of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus offers the complete 1604 A-text with embedded selections from the 1616 B-text. Its innovative format will make it easier for readers to note differences between these texts and to consider what is gained and lost in viewing them both separately and together. A full Introduction to the play, notes, and a rich selection of related texts further enhance the value of this edition to students of Renaissance drama, Reformation theology, magic, and occult philosophy.

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Peter Hainsworth’s sparkling, eminently readable new English translation of The Book of the Courtier, Baldesar Castiglione’s (1478–1529) literary and philosophical masterpiece, captures all the nuance, stylistic flair, and humor of this foundational work of Renaissance humanism.

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Free PDF eBook, not available as a print book. Click the learn more link below to visit the title page and download a free PDF eBook.

An anonymous Greek reworking (doubtfully attributed to Lucian) of the lost, anonymous Greek Metamorphoseis (falsely attributed to Lucius of Patras). An American translation.

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Second (Nov. 2022) & final third (June 2023) printings -- NOW SHIPPING and available to order on the Hackett website for customers in the U.S. & Canada, while supplies last. The reprint copies are unnumbered, but otherwise identical to the first printing, including the bookplate in The Poetic Edda personally signed by Dr. Crawford.

Customers in the U.K. & Europe -- a limited number of reprint copies are available for sale from Gazelle Book Services. 

Since the 2015 publication of The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes, Old Norse specialist Dr. Jackson Crawford has delighted readers with his English-language translations of Old Norse sagas and poems that tell the tales of Odin, Thor, Loki, dragon-slayer Sigurd, Brynhild the Valkyrie, Hrólf Kraki, and many more. This limited-edition set collects three of Dr. Crawford's Hackett Publishing books, The Poetic Edda (2015), The Saga of the Volsungs (2017), and Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes (2021) in a beautifully designed hand-crafted slipcase box. Each book in the set features smyth-sewn hardcover bindings with new custom artwork for the front covers. The Poetic Edda features a medallion of the wolf Fenrir, The Saga of the Volsungs a medallion of the dragon/serpent Fafnir, and Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes a medallion of a bear.

Each volume in the set begins with a phrase hand-written by Dr. Crawford that best exemplifies the text to follow or Dr. Crawford's favorite passage from the book. The quotes in The Poetic Edda and Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes also contain the runic "originals." The Poetic Edda also includes a bookplate personally signed by Dr. Crawford and hand-tipped into the front of the book.

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This compact anthology—the second volume in Margaret L. King’s masterful introduction to the Western literary tradition—offers, in whole or in part, eighty key literary works of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The texts provided here represent an unusually broad array of languages and traditions, ranging across a variety of genres such as verse, drama, philosophy, short- and long-form fiction, and non-fiction (including autobiography, speech, journalism, and essay). This second volume shares with the first a focus on works by women; numerous texts by Latin American writers are included here as well. King’s clear, engaging introductions and notes support an informed reading of the texts while extending students’ knowledge of particular authors and problems of interest. The Western Literary Tradition’s modest length and cost allow for the use of full-length works—many of which are available in Hackett Publishing’s own well-regarded and inexpensive translations and editions—alongside the anthology without adding undue cost to a student’s total textbook fees.

See the complete Table of Contents for volume 2 here (PDF).

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Aristophanes's classic send-up of rivalry within the ultra-competitive world of fifth-century Athenian theatre wins a new lease on life in this fresh line-for-line translation by Peter Meineck. Premiered in 2021 by Aquila Theatre and accompanied here by Meineck’s notes and wide-ranging Introduction, this Frogs offers the best view yet of a high-stakes afterlife contest between two of Athens's late great playwrights. Both are undisputed masters of tragedy. But only one can win and return to save the city.

"Peter Meineck draws on his vast experience as both theatre producer and classical scholar in this lively and thoroughly contemporary translation of Aristophanes's rambunctious but heady Frogs. In highlighting Aristophanes's own concern for spectacle, stage action, and musicality, Meineck offers flexible guidance not only for modern producers of this comedy but also for readers eager to visualize an Aristophanic play in its original setting and to marvel at its enduring comic brilliance." —Ralph M. Rosen, Vartan Gregorian Professor of the Humanities and Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania

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Inherited through the line of the berserker Angantýr and his war-loving daughter Hervor, the ever-lethal, shining sword Tyrfing and its changes of hands frame the uncanny story of The Saga of Hervor and Heiđrek. A second heroic saga, Hrólf Kraki and His Champions, recounts the daring deeds of the members and entourage of the ancient Danish house of Skjoldung. Passed down orally in pre-Christian Norse times, transmitted in writing in medieval Iceland, and here wielded by the hand of Jackson Crawford, the tales told in this volume retain their sharp edges and flashes of glory that never fail to slay. 

"Hervarar saga and Hrólfs saga kraka are among the best of the Icelandic mythical heroic sagas and are both highpoints of medieval literature. Jackson Crawford’s new translation is eminently readable and with its accompanying Introduction and notes will serve as an excellent introduction to this fascinating material." —M. J. Driscoll, Professor of Old Norse Philology, University of Copenhagen

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The fourth in a series of editions of Shakespeare’s most political and history-soaked plays, this Macbeth offers copious aids to understanding the play not found in any other edition. By attending to the play’s medieval Scottish setting in a way that rival editors have never matched—when they have even dug beyond the early seventeenth-century context in which it was produced—Jan H. Blits’s edition richly rewards readers left unsatisfied by “decodings” of the play’s supposed allusions to the politics of early modern England who wish to look deeper. In doing so, it opens the text for readers to encounter, in new ways, the play’s historical, political, and psychological significance.

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A handful of fragments is all that remains of the writings of Menippus, the third-century BCE provocateur of the Greek Cynic movement. The Western literary tradition knows him through Lucian, the Greek satirist who lived and worked four hundred years later. Included in this book are Joel Relihan’s lively English translations of Lucian’s three reanimations of Menippus—fantastic narratives and comic dialogues set in heaven and hell: Menippus; or, The Consultation of the Corpses, Icaromenippus; or, A Man above the Clouds, and The Colloquies of the Corpses (Dialogues of the Dead).

“Professor Relihan’s translations of Lucian’s Menippus works are the best I know of in English. The notes, Introduction, and Afterword are models of concision and clarity. This volume will be enormously useful to anyone interested in Lucian, Menippus, or ‘Menippean satire’.” —R. Bracht Branham, Emory University

 

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Rising to the challenge of rendering the poem's Latin hexameters by adopting English iambic ones, Len Krisak's Aeneid doubles down on the English poetic tradition by also featuring rhyme. In Krisak's hands, these devices provide not only a superb kind of music but the snap and power of an epic adventure that glories in what only formal poetry can do. Enhanced by an Introduction and an extensive set of notes by Christopher M. McDonough, this Aeneid works as story, voice, and verse.

"Virgil’s Aeneid, though central to the Western canon, is also one of the most difficult to tackle for the translator, with its knotty syntax, its famously 'pious' protagonist, and its slippery ambivalence toward questions of truth and power. In this fresh translation, Len Krisak not only boldly meets Virgil line-for-line, but in a hexameter that answers the original meter, all while hewing to straightforward English with a weather eye on the Latin. The six-beat line has a reputation in English for dragging, but Krisak's hexameters drive along briskly. His choice to rhyme throughout, sometimes chiming ingeniously and sometimes with subtler off-rhyme effects, brings home that we are reading not only an epic narrative, but a verse performance. This work, concerned with human displacement in the aftermath of a prolonged war, with its themes of personal responsibility, duty, and leadership, and imbued with anxiety about the direction of a nation, could not be more topical." —A. E. Stallings

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"Jan Blits's invaluable edition of Coriolanus opens up new vistas for its readers by providing rare insights into Shakespeare’s remarkable artistry and acuity in dramatizing ancient Rome—its history, its heroes, and its aspirations. In addition, Professor Blits’s references to key sources on Rome enable curious readers to conduct their own further investigations under his learned guidance. In short, Blits’s edition makes the depths of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus accessible in ways previous versions do not."
—Vickie B. Sullivan, Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political Science, Tufts University

"With this edition of Coriolanus, together with his editions of Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra, Jan Blits completes his masterful trilogy of commentary on Shakespeare’s dramatic portrait of the ancient Roman Republic. His introductory essay, extensive and detailed notes to the text, and useful glossary provide readers, students, and scholars of Shakespeare’s Roman plays with a comprehensive account of the dominant themes and circumstances in the dramatic action—especially from the perspective of ancient history and political philosophy. From the foundation of the Roman Republic and its inevitable tension between extraordinary martial prowess, the pursuit of self-sufficient virtue, and republican devotion to the common good, Blits creates a compelling historical, political, and philosophical framework for understanding Shakespeare's Coriolanus and Rome." —Dustin Gish, The Honors College, University of Houston

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"In this new edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, David Wootton's Introduction gives the reader both a clear and gripping account of the biographical circumstances that led to the novel’s writing and the most striking and original interpretations of its central themes and of the intellectual and cultural influences on them. Offering a new account of the complex history of its composition, and drawing upon his deep knowledge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scientific debates, Wootton reveals the ways in which the origins of Shelley’s novel are inextricably linked to conceptions of the origins of life itself. We have here a transformative reading of one of the world’s best-known stories." —Laura Marcus, Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature and Fellow of New College, University of Oxford

"David Wootton, the editor of a splendid new edition of Frankenstein that includes a rich variety of relevant texts, prefers to focus on the contribution made to the novel by Mary’s reading of contemporary articles on travel (the book’s first narrator, Robert Walton, is bound for the North Pole, which he describes as 'the favourite dream of my early years'). Wootton's magisterial introduction grants equal significance to the earnest discussions about generating life that took place in 1816 at Lord Byron's lakeside villa in Switzerland, where Frankenstein was conceived."
 —Miranda Seymour in The New York Review of Books

Click here to see the full Table of Contents with the list of related texts included.

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"William T. Whobrey conducts Gottfried von Strassburg’s great medieval epic into the twenty-first century. The reader will come for the elegant translation and stay for the scholarship." —Alexander Sager, University of Georgia

"I believe this fluent, accurate, readable translation of Tristan and Isolde will become the standard English edition of Gottfried’s literary masterpiece. Wisely choosing not to recreate the end rhyme of the original, Whobrey has created a text that stays true to the original Middle High German while rendering it into modern English prose. The inclusion of Ulrich von Türheim's Continuation is a great strength of this book. For the first time, English speakers will be able to read Gottfried's work in tandem with Ulrich's and explore—via Whobrey’s discussion of Ulrich's sources—the rich Tristan literary tradition in the Middle Ages and the ways in which Gottfried’s achievement resonated well after his death. The footnotes provide helpful cultural, historical, and interpretive information, and Whobrey's Introduction offers a nice overview of Gottfried's biography, a discussion of Gottfried's important literary excursus, his place within the literature and genres of his time, and the source material for his Tristan. Particularly useful is Whobrey's discussion of the intricate and masterful structure of Gottfried’s text." —Scott Pincikowski, Hood College

 

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This compact anthology provides a thorough introduction to the major works of the Western literary tradition from Antiquity to 1700 covering the Hebrew Bible to John Milton (see the full Table of Contents in the link below). It includes excerpts from seventy texts translated from eight ancient and modern languages in genres as diverse as epic, lyric, and dramatic verse; prose narrative including story, romance, and novel; and nonfiction prose including autobiography, biography, letter, speech, dialogue, and essay. Further distinguishing this collection is the inclusion of works by women writers often overlooked in other literary anthologies. Margaret L. King's clear, engaging introductions and notes support an informed reading of the texts while extending students’ knowledge of particular authors and problems of interest.

Table of Contents: Click here to see the full Table of Contents for The Western Literary Tradition, Volume 1 (PDF)

Ebook flexibility: Find the The Western Literary Tradition eBook solution that best fits your syllabus. In addition to being available as a complete volume in print and eBook formats The Western Literary Tradition: Volume 1 is also available in four affordable ($9.95 each) eBook-only selections: Antiquity: Foundations of Western Literature, The Middle Ages: The Formation of the Western Literary Tradition, Renaissance Revisions: Recovery and Renewal, and Early Modern: New Horizons. Click here to learn more about the eBook-only selections, and to request instructor eBook exam copies.

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"Destined to delight readers with its vibrant, spot-on translations, this definitive collection of haiku grandmaster Bashō’s travel writings, in prose as well as poetry, conveys the exquisite pleasures and heartbreaks of the road as a metaphor for life itself." —Adam L. Kern, University of Wisconsin–Madison

"The travel writings of Matsuo Bashō are of enormous literary importance, and so it is a joy to see them collected in this compact volume, in translations of exemplary elegance, faithfulness, and accessibility. The annotations are especially valuable: they show a solid grasp of the author’s life, work, and times, and provide rich and detailed background information about allusions to Chinese and Japanese classics. Along with the high quality of the translations themselves, this thorough commentary makes the book a significant scholarly resource and will help readers appreciate the density and delicacy of Bashō’s writing. A very welcome addition to the English-language literature on one of the central poets of the Japanese tradition." —David B. Lurie, Columbia University

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"Hávamál, ‘Words of the High One’—purportedly delivering the wisdom of Odin in his own voice—is one of the most important mythological poems of the Poetic Edda and simply the most important witness to early Norse cultural ethics. Jackson Crawford has now given us a clean text and a new facing-page translation in contemporary idiom. A highly trained linguist, Crawford has already published with Hackett a complete translation of the whole of the famous ancient anthology, the Poetic Edda, and acquired many fans for his YouTube videos teaching Old Norse. Crawford is a poet in his own right with a recognizably Western voice. A scholarly commentary on the whole poem is an accomplishment made palatable for the general reader by Crawford’s informal style. All in all, a fresh start on the mysteries of this classic." —Joseph Harris, Francis Lee Higginson Professor of English Literature and Professor of Folklore, Emeritus, Harvard University

"Jackson Crawford offers his readers an excellent entry into the world of Hávamál, where the high-god Óðinn from the Old Norse Pantheon mediates some age-old wisdom to his audience. Crawford provides a clear translation that points directly into the original text itself, while his extensive commentary emphasizes its nuances and ambiguity, strips away popular notions of paganism, and draws attention instead to the poem’s universal down-to-earth attitude. The humorous and entertaining cowboy-version that Crawford offers at the end serves as a tribute to the wisdom of his own grandfather, a fitting epilogue that updates this ancient poem which the Christian people of Iceland assembled from oral tradition into a book in the thirteenth century." —Gísli Sigurðsson, Research Professor and Head of the Folklore Department, Árni Magnússon Institute, University of Iceland

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"This masterful translation of one of the most popular books of world literature makes available to an English readership the animal tales known collectively as Kalila and Dimna. Named after the two jackals of Pancatantra fame, this collection of stories is based on a 12th-century Persian translation of an 8th-century original Arabic rendition by Ibn al-Muqaffa‘. Set within a frame narrative of counsels given to the Raja of India by his Brahmin minister, the engaging tales about cats and mice, storks and crabs, tortoises and geese, owls and crows, and princes and ascetics, function as cautionary illustrations of human predicaments and all-too-human vices and virtues. Far from being a collection of children’s fables, Kalila and Dimna is a Machiavellian mirror for princes containing advice on how to preserve oneself from one’s enemies and get ahead at court and in life. The dialogues that constitute the bulk of the narrative harbor a dramatic immediacy, exerting a powerful effect even on a modern-day reader." —Maria Subtelny, University of Toronto

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"Like the Blits edition of Julius Caesar, this new edition of Antony and Cleopatra restores one of Shakespeare's Roman plays to its rightful place among serious works of political philosophy devoted to understanding Roman politics and the characters who inhabit it. The Preface and Introduction are extremely well written. The Preface situates this edition in opposition to certain conventions of modern Shakespeare scholarship that are generally unhelpful to readers approaching the play from the perspective of political philosophy. It moreover identifies places where other editions and editors mislead the reader and bury Shakespeare's political wisdom in the process. The Introduction explores the impact of political change on the arc of Roman history, with special attention to the conditions that fostered republican Rome and the erosion of such conditions under the empire. It also provides ample opportunity to connect the politics of the play to modern political problems. The footnotes are unusually helpful for scholars interested in Shakespeare's political thought. References to relevant classical authorities such as Cicero, Livy, Plutarch, Appian, and Dio help clear the way for a more serious confrontation with the play." —Khalil Habib, Hillsdale College

"This edition of Antony and Cleopatra gives contemporary readers access to Shakespeare's meaning as no other edition does. While other editors may provide basic information about the historical setting of the play, Jan Blits makes palpable the shape and feel of the world in which the action unfolds. His annotations citing classical authors reveal a world of possibility that would have been available to earlier generations, that Shakespeare would have taken for granted, and that is lost on readers today. His excellent Introduction frames the drama in terms of questions regarding the relative place of the public and private in the polity’s life, the claims of the universal and the national on the allegiance of citizens, and the meaning of nobility that will be highly provocative for anyone interested in Shakespeare as a political thinker." —Joseph Alulis, North Park University

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In addition to a substantial introduction to the life and works of Federico García Lorca—avant-garde poet, playwright, and soul of Spain's "Generation of '27"—this collection features vibrant new English translations of four of his plays. The legacy of a dramatic, religious, and social iconoclast whose death made him a martyr of the left in Civil-War Spain and who today is embraced as a gay icon shines through in Michael Kidd's stage-worthy renderings of Yerma, Blood Wedding, The House of Bernarda Alba, and a more experimental play, The Audience, a kaleidoscopic exploration of sexual identity and theater.

"Kidd's translations are excellent. The biographical and critical material included as front matter in the volume are aimed at the English-speaking layman reader, and are appropriate for that reader, but interesting to the specialist too, as Kidd's thoughts on the texts include more reflection than is common in the scholarship on (for instance) questions of producibility, taking the plays as scripts intended to be performed, rather than only as texts to be read from a page. Kidd's book would be an ideal introduction to Lorca's theater for an English-speaking audience." —David W. Bird, Saint Mary's College of California, in Letras Hispanas

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Stanley Lombardo's new verse translation of the most famous free-standing sequence from the great Indian epic The Mahabharata hews closely to the meaning, verse structure, and performative quality of the original and is invigorated by its judicious incorporation of key Sanskrit terms in transliteration, for which a glossary is also provided The translation is accompanied by Richard H. Davis' brilliant Introduction and Afterword. The latter, "Krishna on Modern Fields of Battle," offers a fascinating look at the illuminating role the poem has played in the lives and struggles of a few of the most accomplished figures in recent world history.

"Lucid, detailed, and erupting with fearsome visions, the Bhagavad Gita has baffled English-language translators for 250 years. Stanley Lombardo is the first to recognize that at its root the Sanskrit Gita was oral performance. Beyond word and meaning, past nuance or doctrine, Lombardo restores the archaic tradition of voice and conch shell. When you read this edition aloud the hair on your neck will stand up. Add a drum and it’s a performance. A grand old culture comes to life. Both essays by Richard Davis are superb, placing the Gita in historical context, back then, and more recently." —Andrew Schelling, Naropa University

 

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This stirring new version of the great Babylonian epic includes material from the recently discovered “monkey tablet” as well as an Introduction, timeline, glossary, and correspondences between lines of the translation and those of the original texts.

"A comprehensive Introduction with a light touch (Beckman), a poetic rendering with verve and moxie (Lombardo): This edition of the colossal Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic should satisfy all readers who seek to plumb its wealth and depth without stumbling over its many inconvenient gaps and cruxes. A fine gift to all lovers of great literature." —Jack M. Sasson, Emeritus Professor, Vanderbilt University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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"Kittredge's landmark edition appears now with an insightful and informative introduction to the play, its background and its history on stage and screen, together with excellent suggestions for reading it with performance in mind and commentary on significant productions. I recommend it warmly to readers who are already familiar with the play, as well as to those approaching it for the first time." —Russell Jackson, Professor Emeritus of Drama, University of Birmingham

“An inspired edition of Shakespeare's late masterpiece, larded with riches that are at once accessible and challenging to students of The Tempest. These riches include a masterful introduction that sets forth major and minor characters in all their complexity; great page-for-page textual and performance notes that aptly explain the play’s obscurities and showcase the many ways given scenes and speeches have been performed; an enlightening guide to the reading experience—"How to Read the Play as Performance;" and brilliant questions for thought and discussion. Mahon and Mucciolo are the perfect guides through this most wondrous and perplexing play. —Laury Magnus, Professor of Humanities, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

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"Timon of Athens is one of the most enigmatic and underappreciated of Shakespeare's plays, yet its urgency for our times is not to be understated. Guided by Douglas Lanier's astute and accessible commentary throughout, this edition positions Timon in a range of historical, theoretical, and performance contexts. The superb Introduction and supplementary resources help the reader navigate key issues—ranging from money, friendship, and cynicism to art, ethics, and collaborative authorship—as well as consider contemporary adaptations on stage and screen. This edition will be a welcome resource for teachers and students at both undergraduate and graduate levels." —Jay Zysk, Department of English, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

"Douglas Lanier's Introduction immerses us in the play's daring experiments with genre, its ethical and economic dilemmas, and its emotional and tonal range. He shows how Timon of Athens not only resonates with our troubled cultural moment but also speaks eloquently of its own times. His essay on appreciating the play as a performance script advises us expertly on how to read it as directors do and how to be alert to its radical openness to interpretation." —Stephen M. Buhler, Department of English, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

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Like previous editions in the New Kittredge Shakespeare series, this edition of The Two Noble Kinsmen takes George Lyman Kittredge's text as its base, though in this case one that has been extensively edited by Jim Casey in the light of more recent editions. As Kittredge never published a free-standing edition of the play, all annotations and performance notes are Casey's and have been prepared specifically for this edition. In addition to other standard features of New Kittredge Shakespeare editions—Topics for Discussion and Further Study, a timeline, and a discussion of reading the play as performance—it offers a splendid new Introduction by Casey focusing on the themes and recent production history of this recently revived play of Shakespeare and Fletcher's.

"This edition of The Two Noble Kinsmen is smart, accessible, and highly valuable for students and for scholars. Casey's contributions provide keen insights into the play’s multiplicities of meaning through performance history and production survey, textual study, and thematic discovery. The result is an edition that reveals this sometimes-overlooked play’s richness and complexities, and Casey’s engaging student materials will surely contribute much to the play's resurgence for new generations of readers." —Timothy Francisco, Professor of English, Youngstown State University

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"Fresh, accurate, and engaging, this new translation of the Book of the City of Ladies helps us to understand what made Christine de Pizan so popular with her fifteenth-century contemporaries. The editors provide a rich historical and philosophical context that will be very useful to both students and scholars of the history of political ideas. The translations themselves gracefully navigate the fine line between accuracy and readability with considerable charm. Rounding out this portrait of the turmoil of fifteenth-century France, the volume is enriched by excerpts from other works, Christine's Vision, the Book of the Body Politic, and the Lamentation on France's Ills." —Kate Forhan, Emeritus, Siena College

"I am thrilled with the quality of this volume. Translator Hardy has created a splendid modern translation of Christine’s difficult French, and editors Bourgault and Kingston offer readers an outstandingly comprehensive and helpful introduction. The notes and other critical apparatus have also been judiciously crafted. . . . I can’t think of any other single edition of Christine’s work that offers readers such a concise point of entry to women’s history, late-medieval political thought, and for that matter the turmoil, both economic and political, in fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century France." —Sarah Gwyneth Ross, Boston College

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Jan Blits’ edition represents something new among editions of Julius Caesar. In addition to textual glosses and explanatory notes focused on the rhetorical, historical, and political contexts of the speeches, it includes a wide array of quotations and citations from writers of classical antiquity chosen to illuminate passages of special pertinence to the Roman world represented in the play. Highlighting Shakespeare’s significance as a political thinker, it also demonstrates his deep understanding of Roman antiquity, its competing worldviews, and the demise of its Republic. Intended for a broad readership, the edition also includes a Preface, Introduction, Bibliography, and a topical Index.

"As satisfying an edition of a Shakespeare play as I have on my shelves. The brief introduction mounts a crisp critique of Shakespeare scholarship on Julius Caesar insofar as it sees the play as unhistorical, as presenting Elizabethan gentlemen in Roman costume, because the author, a busy and not so well-read actor, would not be familiar with the facts that, for this scholarship, constitute history. Part of the wicked pleasure in reading Blits’ footnotes is to see the evidence for how wrong this line is. . . . Of most interest are the explanatory footnotes. Shakespeare is at his most artful in writing speeches whose intellectual structure mirrors the speaker’s nature. These late Republicans and first Caesarians are one and all duplicitous, rent in soul or deceitful in intention—and they are educated. Hence their speeches use and abuse the trivium, its grammar, logic, and rhetoric, for all it is worth. Without the explanatory notes I would have missed the characters’ craft and Shakespeare’s art. Would that there were more such editions!" —Eva Brann, St. John's College

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"Whobrey's masterful translation of this pair of thirteenth-century texts brings the entire Middle High German story to life for contemporary English-speaking audiences. His Introduction and notes guide the reader’s understanding of the texts and provide an overview of scholarly approaches to them. Scholars will be particularly grateful to Whobrey for providing manuscript variants from the three oldest manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied, allowing modern readers access to medieval interpretations of the story for the first time in English, and showcasing the dynamic nature of medieval storytelling." —Kathryn Starkey, Stanford University

"To say that the translations of both works read well is an understatement. . . . A very significant contribution to medieval literary studies in general and an essential addendum to Nibelungenlied studies in particular. . . . Deserves—and is likely destined—to become the standard translation into English of both the Nibelungenlied and the Klage for decades to come." —Winder McConnell, Emeritus, University of California, Davis

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"The Paradiso concludes Simone's excellent translation of Dante's Commedia. Consistent with the previous two volumes, the translation is accurate and graceful, and Simone’s introductions and apparatus provide a helpful entrée to the text, especially for first-time readers who are one of its primary audiences." —William Stephany, Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont

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"This new collection of Tang dynasty tales translated from the Taiping Guangji is an outstanding new resource for students of China. The stories are well-chosen to represent the fascinating breadth of medieval Chinese culture—tales of romance, politics, revenge, and interactions with the supernatural bring to life the richness of medieval religion and society. The translations themselves are accurate and compelling. The authors and translators provide concise, clear introductions to each story and to the volume as a whole, and the collection is carefully organized and indexed so that teachers and students can explore stories on different topics. Lively and accessible to the non-specialist reader, this volume will make a terrific addition to any course on China." —Anna M. Shields, Princeton University

 "All in all, with excellent translations, knowledgeable and insightful introductions, as well as a user-friendly index and appendices, this anthology is beyond doubt a valuable addition to the study of Tang tales. I believe it will be enthusiastically welcomed by all students and scholars of Chinese fiction and religions and enjoyed by general readers as well." —Zhenjun Zhang, St. Lawrence University, in Chinese Literature

"The reader of Tales from Tang Dynasty China is struck above all by the impressive quality of the translations, which throughout maintain great attention to detail, style, and precision. The first-rate and user-friendly supplementary materials, including the introduction, appendices, bibliography, and index, further enhance the substantial pedagogical and scholarly importance of the volume. [This book] represents an invaluable contribution to the field of Chinese literary studies and a critical resource for students, instructors, and researchers of Tang literature and culture." —Rebecca Doran, University of Miami, in Journal of Chinese Religions

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"This is a wonderfully supple and idiomatic modern translation of the most important account of the legendary Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer and his family in Old Norse-Icelandic literature. Crawford's version is vivid, clear, and exciting, tracing the intrigues, killings, battles, and magic that shape the lives of Sigurd’s kindred. Coupled with it is the brilliant sequel, the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok. Rarely translated into English before, the saga tells of Sigurd's daughter and her husband, the unparalleled Viking king and hero, Ragnar, who is also a dragon-slayer. Lively and fresh, with gripping dialogue and intense scenes of action, the saga has long deserved to be better known. In Jackson Crawford it has found the perfect translator." —Carolyne Larrington, Professor of Medieval European Literature, University of Oxford

Audiobook: An audiobook edition, narrated by Jackson Crawford, is available from Downpour, Audible, and other audiobook retailers. Learn more about the audiobook here.

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"This translation and commentary are an essential contribution to Dante's reception in English. Stanley Lombardo's translation is accurate, elegant, and transparent, a mirror of the original text. Alison Cornish's commentary is lucid, graceful, and precise, with just the right level of detail; it penetrates and opens the Paradiso's philosophical, scientific, and theological dimensions with authority, balance, sensitivity, and simplicity. Perhaps now more readers will follow Dante to Paradise." —Christian Moevs, Associate Professor of Italian, University of Notre Dame

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"The New Kittredge series is both a delight and a steal. Kittredge’s textual authority, updated by eminent scholars sensitive to classroom needs and alert to staging choices, is once again available in these slim, elegant, inexpensive, user-friendly volumes. With lucid notes and incisive introductions geared especially to popular film versions, the series also offers an overview of both stage and film performances of each play. A must for any Shakespeare class." —Laury Magnus, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

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This new edition of Anthology of Classical Myth offers selections from key Near Eastern texts—the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Epic of Creation (Enuma Elish), and Atrahasis; the Hittite Song of Emergence; and the flood story from the book of Genesis—thereby enabling students to explore the many similarities between ancient Greek and Mesopotamian mythology and enhancing its reputation as the best and most complete collection of its kind. Click here to see the full Table of Contents (PDF) for Anthology of Classical Myth (Second Edition).

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"Idema and West have been collaborating on the production of scholarly works on, and translations of, Chinese vernacular literature for decades and their work has set a very high standard for scholarly value, accuracy, and readability. This is their second volume on popular treatments of the famous Three Kingdoms period, a fascinating age that has dominated as a topic both traditional Chinese fiction and drama. . . . Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language . . . presents a comprehensive introduction to all of the main characters (Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, Zhou Yu, etc.) and events (the Oath in the Peach Garden, The Battle at the Red Cliff, The Single Sword Meeting, etc.) that are so well known in China and deserve to be even better known in the West."  —David Rolston, University of Michigan

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"Diane Arnson Svarlien's lively and accessible translations give an excellent sense of Euripides' poetic resources, from his artful blend of conversational idiom and high style, to his powerful displays of rhetoric and emotion, to the expressive rhythms and images of his songs. They are sure to delight readers and listeners alike. Moreover, they have been shaped by judicious use of the best and latest scholarship. The plays in this volume will surprise readers used to tragedy on the Aristotelian pattern and stimulate reflection about what tragedy is and what it is for."
     —John Gibert, Department of Classics, University of Colorado, Boulder

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"After existing orally for hundreds of years, Sunjata was written down in the twentieth century. David Conrad, who recorded a new version of the epic, has now crafted a prose translation that preserves the oral flavor of live performance. The result is a captivating work of literature that will finally give the story of Sunjata its well-deserved place among the great epics of world literature."
     —Martin Puchner, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University

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"Fresh, lively, and reliable, Stanley Lombardo's Purgatorio easily earns its place in the great tradition of English-language renderings of Dante. Excellent introductory material and footnotes help to make this a version that will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers alike." —Steven Botterill, Associate Professor of Italian Studies, University of California, Berkeley

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Though now associated mainly with Sophocles’ Theban Plays and Euripides’ Bacchae, the theme of Thebes and its royalty was a favorite of ancient Greek poets, one explored in a now lost epic cycle, as well as several other surviving tragedies. With a rich Introduction that sets three of these plays within the larger contexts of Theban legend and of Greek tragedy in performance, Cecelia Eaton Luschnig’s annotated translation of Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, Euripides’ Suppliants, and Euripides’ Phoenician Women offers a brilliant constellation of less familiar Theban plays—those dealing with the war between Oedipus’ sons, its casualties, and survivors.

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"Michael Harney's translation of Cervantes's Novelas ejemplares is the most authoritative and accurate rendering of Cervantes's classic tales to date and promises to be the translation against which future translations will be measured. Harney skillfully portrays the nuanced and complex world of the Exemplary Novellas in a translation that is faithful to the letter and spirit of the original. An erudite and informative Introduction presents a general overview of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain, the life of Cervantes, and a detailed analysis of the Exemplary Novellas. Before each story, Harney provides a brief synopsis, an analysis of the novella’s themes, motifs, and generic affinities, and a bibliography for further reading. In addition, numerous footnotes complement the background information Harney provides in the Introduction and prior to each novella."
     —Michael J. McGrath, Georgia Southern University

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"In this expanded edition of his distinguished Sappho: Poems and Fragments (2002), Stanley Lombardo offers over 100 fragments not included in the original edition, as well as the new poems discovered in 2004 and 2014. His translation of this latter material yields fresh insights into Sappho’s representations of old age, two of her brothers, and her special relationship with Aphrodite. Pamela Gordon’s engaging, balanced, and informative Introduction has been revised to incorporate discussion of the new fragments, which subtly alter our previous understanding of the archaic poet’s corpus. Complete Poems and Fragments also offers a useful updated bibliography, as well as a section on ‘Elegiac Sappho’ that presents the reception of the Lesbian poet in later Greek and Latin elegiac poems. A wonderful find for any Greekless reader searching for a complete and up-to-date Sappho."
     —Patricia A. Rosenmeyer, Department of Classics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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"The New Kittredge series is both a delight and a steal. Kittredge's textual authority, updated by eminent scholars sensitive to classroom needs and alert to staging choices, is once again available in these slim, elegant, inexpensive, user-friendly volumes. With lucid notes and incisive introductions geared especially to popular film versions, the series also offers an overview of both stage and film performances of each play. A must for any Shakespeare class."
     —Laury Magnus, Contributing Editor, New Kittredge Shakespeare and Hamletworks.org

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