The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (Oxford Companion)

Book Description

The Oxford Companion to Scottish History interprets history broadly, including archaeology, architecture, culture, folk belief, climate, geology, and languages in its scope. Compiled by more than 170 contributors, it covers over 2000 years and extends from Galloway to Orkney and Shetland and from the Borders to the Western Isles. At more than half a million words and nearly 800 pages, it provides comprehensive coverage of Scotland's eventful history. Entries on figures such as Columba, Macbeth, William Wallace, and James (Paraffin) Young sit alongisde entries on sport and culture - on Burns Clubs, curling, and shinty - and on major historical issues such as clans, Clearances, and Covenanters. It also deals extensively with migration and with Scots abroad - from Canada to Russia to New Zealand. It is more than a historical dictionary or an encyclopedia - it analyses as well as describes. Multi-authored entries explore key themes such as kingship, national identity, women, urban and rural life, the economy, housing, living standards, and religious beliefs across the centuries in an authoritative but approachable way.

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For any academic library's British History collection
Adopts a pretty big definition of 'British'
The best one volume source on British History.
A Fantastic Reference Work
Detailed look at British Empire, with one error

The Oxford Companion to British History

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198605145

Amazon.com

From "Abbeys," monastic organizations that were important in local-level medieval government, to "Zutphen, Battle of," where the great poet Sir Philip Sidney lost his life in 1586, this 1,000-plus-page tome offers an erudite register of all things British. Editor John Cannon's emphases are sometimes idiosyncratic--the entry for the Beatles, inarguably influential in British and world history, is as short as that for "beagling," a particular kind of rabbit hunting. The Oxford Companion to British History is an invaluable and well-written resource for Anglophiles nonetheless.

Book Description

The Britain of 55 BC was a very different place to the Britain of 2002. The main preoccupation back then was fear of Roman invasion; there was no genetically modified food, no New Labour, no Mad Cow's Disease, and no Euro, all things which are making history today. The Oxford Companion to British History, first published in 1997, described in Writing Magazine as 'the ultimate in reference books', details and analyses the people and events that have shaped and defined life in Britain over 2,000 years of political, social, and cultural change. In over 4,000 entries, under the editorial guidance of John Cannon, over 100 distinguished contributors offer a wealth of information and insight into the social, political, economic, scientific, cultural, and military aspects of the history of Britain. As well as the expected kings, queens, leaders, and battles, topics as diverse as gibbeting (the exhibiting of corpses of executed criminals in public), Eadgyth (the mistress of Harold II), truck (the payment of wages in food and kind) and buses (road vehicles carrying passengers by short stages on fixed routes) can be found within the A-Z entries. Now available for the first time in paperback, the text has now been updated and revised to take into account the events, people, and institutions that have made their mark over the past four years. The new and re-written entries that make this revised edition also broaden the already extensive coverage further, bringing the text in line with the year 2002. New and re-written entries include: Culture: advertising People: Paddy Ashdown, Betty Boothroyd, Gordon Brown, Wilkie Collins, Clement Davies, John Dee, Iain Duncan Smith, William Etty, Benjamin Franklin, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Gissing, Joseph Grimond, William Hague, John Harrison, Charles Kennedy, Dan Leno, L. S. Lowry, James Molyneaux, George Robey, David Rothesay, David Steel, William Stubbs, Jeremy Thorpe, David Trimble, Prince William Places: American cemetery, Burley-on-the-hill, diocese of Chester, Clarendon palace, Kenwood, diocese of Liverpool, Mozambique, Pembroke castle, Yorkshire East Riding Issues: democracy, devolution, maps, referenda, terrorism Events: battle of New Orleans, Nootka Sound crisis, Ochakov crisis In addition to A-Z entries the Companion includes a section of maps showing Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon England and early Scotland, Wales in the 13th century, the Angevin Empire, English and Welsh dioceses in 1543, the English Civil War, British and Irish counties, urban development, Europe in the First World War, the retreat from empire, and German hegemony in the Second World War. There are also a number of genealogies of the Saxons, Danes, and Normans, Glyndwr's ancestry, the houses of Lancaster and York, the Tudors and the Stuarts, the Stuart and Hanoverian lines, and Victoria and her descendants. There is also a subject index, which groups headwords into thematic batches to provide an alternative way of accessing the entries.

Customer Reviews:

For any academic library's British History collection.......2003-05-17

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, The Oxford Companion To British History is a dictionary-style, 1056-page resource reference which is filled from cover to cover with names, places, terms, and events comprising the history of Great Britain and organized alphabetically for easy lookup. Compiled and edited by John Cannon (formerly the Chair of Modern History at Newcastle-upon-Tyne until 1992) and brimming with extensive facts and details, The Oxford Companion To British History is a top-notch reference which is enhanced with the inclusion of 12 maps, and would prove to be an invaluable cornerstone for any academic library's British History collection.

Adopts a pretty big definition of 'British'.......2000-07-12

Nice little pieces on the areas Britain has affected but now leaves alone - nearly 4 pages on Australia, 1 each on Canada and New Zealand. Also helpful to find those weird, typically British obsessions: pigeon-fancying, seaside holidays and Tractarianism (go look them up). The kind of book you go to to look up one topic and find yourself reading for an hour. Failed to score 5 stars because it failed to record biographies on influential British sportsmen.

The best one volume source on British History........2000-04-10

I have been using the "Oxford Companion to British History" on a regular basis since its publication. I am not a specialist in British History, but my work as a cataloguer of rare and antiquarian British books has required me to have a working knowledge of British History. This book has proved invaluable to me in my work. Moreover, I can rarely resist the temptation to browse the Companion--it is a text that draws the reader in. Highly recommended.

A Fantastic Reference Work.......1999-07-13

I just purchased the book a few days ago and highyly recommend it. Pages 949-980 are in my copy so do not be afraid that they are missing.

Detailed look at British Empire, with one error.......1998-02-11

This massive 1,000+ page guide to all things British is a solemn, sometimes irreverent dissection of the United Kingdom. More than just a reference work describing the doings of politicians and generals. This companion carefully moves into areas not normally covered by such works. There are entries that discuss various major industries - shipbuilding, mining, gas and cotton - and on aspects of private and domestic life, like childbirth, housing, health and food. While the growth, meaning and importance of sports is discussed, only two athletes rate their own entries (the soccer star Stanley Matthews, knighted for his accomplishments on the field, and cricketer W.G. Grace, the Victorian star who continued playing first-rate cricket until he was 60). The only flaw in the entire book is a production problem that caused the deletion of pages 949 through 980, or between James Ussher and William Whewell. Not a noticeable problem, unless you're looking up information about Queen Victoria.

Oxford Companion to Edwardian Fiction 1900-14: New Voices in the Age of Uncertainty

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Oxford Companion to Edwardian Fiction 1900-14: New Voices in the Age of Uncertainty

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

'This oozing, bulging wealth of the English upper and upper-middle classes.' This was how George Orwell saw the Edwardian period. What images do we see when we think of that era? Ladies munching delicately on cucumber sandwiches? Gentlemen in straw boaters punting gently down rivers? Looking at the authors and authoresses of this time and the things that they wrote about, it seems that there is more to that era than this chocolate-box image of long, lazy summer afternoons would imply. In fact the Edwardian period was a time of much anxiety and insecurity about the changes that were taking place and the ideas that were emerging, and the fiction which arose from them serves as evidence for this. In this unique guide, described as 'a tremendous achievement' by the TLS, literature scholars Sandra Kemp, Charlotte Mitchell, and David Trotter explore the broad sweep of writing that emerged from the early 20th century. Now available in paperback, the Companion offers a wealth of information on the writers, the works, the themes, and the ideas of this fascinating literary era. From Walter Besant's The Fourth Generation, to James Joyce's Dubliners, the Companion doesn't merely centre on works from the Edwardian period but also explores those whose fiction influenced writers at the start of the period and those who took those writers' themes and ideas up to the next level. It also provides details on some of the now neglected and forgotten gems that came from that era. Around 800 authors are covered and there are also entries on some of the most significant novels of the period. An unprecedented number of women began to publish at this time and they represent nearly half of the author-entries in the Companion. There are also entries on the themes and genres that emerged. This was a period when the urban middle and lower classes became not only the subject of fiction but also a substantial part of its readership. Never before had novels been so cheap to buy (and produce). Entries include: Writers: Alice and Claude Askew, J. M. Barrie, Max Beerbohm, M. McDonnell Bodkin, G. K. Chesterton, Walter de la Mare, Ethel M. Dell, A. Conan Doyle, John Galsworthy, Jerome K Jerome, Rudyard Kipling, Oliver Onions, Baroness Orczy, H. G. Wells Publications: The Albany Review, The Athenaeum, Contemporary Review, The Cornhill Magazine, The English Review, The New Age, Pall Mall Magazine Works: Anna of the Five Towns, The Country House, The Dark Flower, The Golden Bowl, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Lord Jim, The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, The Railway Children, The Secret Garden, The White Peacock Themes: Boer War, crime fiction, exoticism, family sagas, fantasy, feminist fiction, historical romance, invasion scare stories, marriage problem novels, regional fiction, suburban life Other: literary agents, publishers In addition to the A-Z entries, there is a chronology charting major historical and cultural events, a list of books frequently consulted, and a very useful index of pseudonyms and changes of name.

The Oxford Companion to the Brontes (Oxford Companion To...)

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The lives and works of the Bronte sisters

The Oxford Companion to the Brontes (Oxford Companion To...)
Christine Alexander , and Margaret Smith
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198614322

Book Description

The Oxford Companion to the Brontes provides both comprehensive and detailed information about the lives, works, and reputations of the Brontes - the three sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, and their father and brother Branwell - all of whom were published writers. It is the first time so much information about the family has been gathered together in an A-Z reference book. The story of the Brontes has become the stuff of myth: three women living on the wild Yorkshire moors, writing works of weird and wonderful genius. Charlotte Bronte claimed that her sister Emily's novel Wuthering Heights was 'hewn in a wild workshop'. Inspired by a deep love of nature and an intensely private imaginative world it certainly was, but Emily's novel, like those of her sisters, is engaged with 19th-century issues and debates. The Brontes lived in a thriving woollen-mill town and participated in local activities - the church, education, concerts, elections, exhibitions. They devoured the latest newspapers and journals, and kept abreast of politics. Their reading was wide and eclectic. A central purpose of the Companion is to evoke the milieu in which they lived and worked, revealing the complex interrelation between their lives, writings, and times. Long entries surveying the Brontes lives and works are supplemented by entries on friends and acquaintances, pets, literary and political heroes; on the places they knew and the places they imagined; on their letters, drawings and paintings; on historical events such as Chartism, the Peterloo Massacre and the Ashantee Wars; on exploration, slavery, and religion. Selected entries on the characters and places in the Bronte juvenilia provide a glimpse into their early imaginative worlds, and entries on film, ballet, and musicals indicate the extent to which their works have inspired others. This is a unique and authoritative reference book for the research student and the general reader - now available in paperback. The A-Z format, extensive cross-referencing, classified contents, chronologies, illustrations, and maps, both facilitate quick reference and encourage further exploration. Entries are also designed to explore scholarly trends and to reflect contemporary directions in literary study. They offer insight into publishing history, bibliographical studies, collectors and museums, book illustration, and theoretical and critical approaches to the Brontes' writings. This Companion is not only invaluable for quick searches, but a delight to browse, and an inspiration to further reading.

Customer Reviews:

The lives and works of the Bronte sisters.......2006-11-27

This book supplements other books about the lives, works and legacies of the Bronte sisters. It includes entries on sequels and adaptations of the works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne as well as coverage of their juvenilia.

The book itself is organised alphabetically, has indexes, cross-references and contains over 2000 entries.

Highly recommended for those of us who can never have too much information about the Sisters Bronte.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Ireland and the British Empire (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series)

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Ireland and the British Empire (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0199251843

Book Description

Modern Irish history was determined by the rise, expansion, and decline of the British Empire. British imperial history, from the age of Atlantic expansion to the age of decolonization, was moulded in part by Irish experience. But the nature of Ireland's position in the Empire has always been a matter of contentious dispute. Was Ireland a sister kingdom and equal partner in a larger British state? Or was it, because of its proximity and strategic importance, the Empire's most subjugated colony? Contemporaries disagreed strongly on these questions, and historians continue to do so. Questions of this sort can only be answered historically: Ireland's relationship with Britain and the Empire developed and changed over time, as did the Empire itself. This book offers the first comprehensive history of the subject from the early modern era through to the contemporary period. The contributors seek to specify the nature of Ireland's entanglement with empire over time: from the conquest and colonization of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through the consolidation of Ascendancy rule in the eighteenth, the Act of Union in the period 1801-1921, the emergence of an Irish Free State and Republic, and eventual withdrawal from the British Commonwealth in 1948. They also consider the participation of Irish people in the Empire overseas, as soldiers, administrators, merchants, migrants, and missionaries; the influence of Irish social, administrative, and constitutional precedents in other colonies; and the impact of Irish nationalism and independence on the Empire at large. The result is a new interpretation of Irish history in its wider imperial context which is also filled with insights on the origins, expansion, and decline of the British Empire.

An Oxford Companion to The Romantic Age: British Culture 1776-1832

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A Real Feast of a Book

An Oxford Companion to The Romantic Age: British Culture 1776-1832

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History of Ideas | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0199245436

Book Description

For the first time in this innovative reference book the Romantic Age is surveyed across all aspects of British culture, rather than in literary or artistic terms alone. The Companion's two-part structure presents forty-two essays on major topics, by leading international experts, cross-referenced to an extensive alphabetical section covering all the principal figures, events, and movements in the broad culture of the period. Aimed at students and general readers as well as scholars, the essays constitute an accessible, pluralistic, and modern social history of the epoch; the alphabetical entries can either be used alongside them, for deeper information on specific subjects, or as a free-standing reference tool. The volume as a whole embraces both high and low culture, and explores its subject across the whole breadth of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The book's multi-disciplinary approach treats Romanticism both in aesthetic terms-its meaning for painting, music, design, architecture, and above all literature-and as a historical epoch of 'revolutionary' transformations which ushered in modern democratic and industrialized society. In this period Wedgwood turned taste into a commercial enterprise, Pierce Egan took Britain by storm with his sensational accounts of low-life in the capital, and Mary Shelley created, in Frankenstein, one of the enduring myths of scientific advance. The Companion revitalizes canonical Romantic figures in the context of the historical events, political and linguistic debates, commercial pressures, and plebeian subcultures of their day, as well as bringing back into historical focus individuals and events whose impact has often been muffled or forgotten. With over 100 integrated illustrations, bibliographies accompanying all the major essays, and an index to Part 1, this is the most comprehensive volume of its kind, offering a unique breadth of information to scholars and students of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British culture, literature, and history. EDITORIAL BOARD: John Brewer (University of California) Marilyn Butler (Exeter College, University of Oxford) James Chandler (University of Chicago) Jerome J. McGann ( University of Virginia, Charlottesville) Mark Philp (Oriel College, Oxford) Robert Webb (University of Maryland)

Customer Reviews:

A Real Feast of a Book.......2002-04-03

This Oxford Companion is one of the most engrossing of all reference works. The book is divided into two hefty sections. The first contains 41 substantial essays on general themes of the era, such as "Revolution," "Industrialization," and "Empire." The essays are written by leading scholars including Jerome McGann, and each essay is concluded with a brief bibliography, which is a great aid to research. Moreover, the essays are fully indexed. This in itself would be a great read, but it's only half the book. The second section of the Companion is a 375-page encyclopedia containing short articles on a whole range of significant contributors to European romanticism, as well as longer articles on the period's various genres, movements, events, and minor themes. What's more, the two sections of the book are fully cross-referenced, and the book is well illustrated throughout. This Companion should be on the "Recommended Reading" list for every undergraduate Romantic-era history or literature course. Not only that, it should be read, as well! A challenging, often provocative, always insightful survey of the great sweep of British culture in the Romantic age.

Missions and Empire (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series)

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Missions and Empire (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0199253471

Book Description

The explosive expansion of Christianity in Africa and Asia during the last two centuries constitutes one of the most remarkable cultural transformations in the history of mankind. Because it coincided with the spread of European economic and political hegemony, it tends to be taken for granted that Christian missions went hand in hand with Imperialism and colonial conquest. In this book historians survey the relationship between Christian missions and the British Empire from the seventeenth century to the 1960s and treat the subject thematically, rather than regionally or chronologically. Many of these themes are treated at length for the first time, relating the work of missions to language, medicine, anthropology, and decolonization. Other important chapters focus on the difficult relationship between missionaries and white settlers, women and mission, and the neglected role of the indigenous evangelists who did far more than European or North American missionaries to spread the Christian religion - belying the image of Christianity as the 'white man's religion'.

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The Oxford Companion to Irish History

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192805010

Book Description

'With its appearance in 1998 the Oxford Companion set a benchmark among reference works on Irish history for accuracy, comprehensiveness, and scholarly detail. Since then Irish history, politics, and culture have continued to develop and transform themselves, and the new edition admirably extends its team of contributors to broaden the coverage of art, literature, archaeology, and material culture as well as contemporary writing and current politics. It re-emerges more indispensable than ever.' Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford, and author of the acclaimed biography of W. B. Yeats 'A companion to be cherished', 'judicious and authoritative', 'excellent work', 'informative and entertaining', these are just some of the phrases used by reviewers describing the first edition of The Oxford Companion to Irish History, published in hardback in 1998. 'A rewarding read', 'marvellous companion', and 'invaluable work of reference' echo the reviewers of the second edition. The history of Ireland has long been a topic at the forefront of debate and one that continues to raise emotions and be the cause of much dispute. It is astonishing that such a small area of land has had one of the most controversial yet fascinating histories of any country in the world. Interest in Irish culture, politics, and society, both ancient and modern, never seems to falter, not only in scholarly circles but also among the general public. With over 1,800 entries, the Companion offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide to all aspects of the Irish past from earliest times to the present day. There is coverage not only of leading political figures, organizations, and events but also of subjects such as dress, music, sport, and diet. Traditional topics such as the rebellion of 1798 and the Irish Civil War sit alongside entries on newly developing areas such as women's history and popular culture. The editor, Sean Connolly, with the help of the existing 87 contributors and a small number of new contributors, has updated and revised the text for this second edition to take into account recent research and events. The coverage has been expanded to offer a fuller treatment of prehistoric and early historic Ireland and more comprehensive information on literary history. There are also new entries on individuals who have died since the first edition was published. In addition the sections dealing with politics in the Irish Republic and in Northern Ireland have been rewritten to take full account of developments up to the end of the 20th century. New / rewritten entries include: Visual Arts (art schools, ceramics, furniture, history painting, painting, sculpture) Politics / Religion (Brendan Corish, James Dillon, Sean MacDermott, Alfred O'Rahilly, peace process, Progressive Democrats, Michael Tierney, Workers' Party) Literature (Dun Emer Press, Lady Augusta Gregory, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Lady Jane ('Speranza') Wilde) Prehistoric and Early Ireland (Bronze Age Ireland, Celtic Ireland, crannog, La Tene in Ireland, Mesolithic Ireland, Neolithic Ireland, rath) Medieval Ireland (fuidir, MacCarthy, O'Brien, O'Donnell, senchleithe, sept) Other (agriculture, Devon Commission, John Henry Newman, Ulster Scots) In addition to A-Z entries the Companion includes a section of maps showing the shape of modern Ireland, post-reformation ecclesiastical divisions in Ireland, political divisions circa 800, Ireland circa 1350, Ireland in the late 15th century, and the pattern of transport and communications in Ireland. There is also a subject index, which groups headwords into thematic batches to provide an alternative way to access the entries. This second edition of the Companion, continuing on from the original, will be valuable to different people for different uses. It will be of particular use to students as a work of general reference and to the general public with an interest in the history and culture of Ireland. But it should also have appeal to academics, both for the longer analytical entries and as a source of reference for topics outside of their immediate area of expertise.

Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy (Oxford Reader)

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Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy (Oxford Reader)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The first attempt to produce a Thomas Hardy Dictionary was made in 1911, before many of his finest poems had even been written, and since then there have been many attempts to produce reference works on his works and his life. None, however, can claim the authority and comprehensiveness of this Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy. Under the editorial direction of Professor Norman Page, more than 40 of the world's most prominent experts on Hardy have been brought together to combine their insights and understandings of all aspects of Hardy studies. The result is a unique synthesis of knowledge, incorporating different national interests and traditions of scholarship, investigating Hardy's life, work, and influences, and the historical context in which he wrote. As well as the assurance of sound scholarship and the convenience of the companion format, there are unexpected delights for the browser, such as entries on alcohol, humour, and pets. The Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy is an indispensable bible for the Hardy scholar and the Hardy reader alike.

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature (Oxford Paperback Reference)

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handy English literature reference
The perfect pocket reference to literature

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature (Oxford Paperback Reference)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0199214921

Book Description

Based on the best-selling Oxford Companion to English Literature, this is an indispensable, compact guide to all aspects of English literature. Over 5,500 entries give unrivalled coverage of writers, works, historical context, literary theory, allusions, characters, and plot summaries. Discursive feature entries supply a wealth of information about important genres in literature. For the 3rd edition, the dictionary has been fully revised and updated. It now includes expanded coverage of world authors including notable authors in translation, coverage of new authors and titles, and new feature entries on short stories and metre. The appendices listing literary prize-winners, including the Nobel, Man Booker, and Pulitzer prizes, have all been updated. There is also a new timeline, chronicling the development of literature from its origins up to the present day. Written originally by a team of more than 140 distinguished contributors working under prizewinning author Margaret Drabble's editorial direction, and extensively updated and expanded for this new edition, this book provides essential reference for English students, teachers, and all other readers of literature in English.

Customer Reviews:

handy English literature reference .......2007-05-22

This is a compact version of the 6th edition of the Oxford Companion to English Literature. The emphasis is naturally on British literature (John Galt is not listed as a character in Atlas Shrugged, but as a Scottish novelist). There is coverage of writers from the United States, Canada, Africa, the Caribbean, and India.

Among the entries are:
- short biographies of novelists, dramatists and poets, and also a few philosophers (Swedenborg), historians, scholars, critics, biographers, travel writers, and journalists
- plot summaries and descriptions of poems

Other notable entries:
- literary and intellectual movements, genres, and critical theory
- figures in Irish mythology
- gay and lesbian literature
- literary societies, libraries, publishers, and even coffee houses

Certain topics get a two-page treatment. (Black British literature, science fiction, structuralism and post-structuralism, ghost stories, post-colonial literature, romantic fiction, spy fiction, etc.)

There's no editorializing. They "describe and characterize rather than judge."

The perfect pocket reference to literature.......2000-03-19

This book fills a niche, and does so perfectly. I wanted a reference work for literature, but I didn't want to pay $50 for one. This book gives short, concise blurbs, which is often all one needs. It is organized well and is inclusive enough for the average household. Not a book for specialists, but excellent for the layperson and student.

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