Exploring more than 500 years of the country's history, Italy provides readers interested in modern Italy or European history with a greater understanding of Italy's past, from the Renaissance to the present. This guide presents the milestones in Italy's history in an interesting and readable way.

This volume traces the modern critical and performance history of this play, one of Shakespeare's most-loved and most-performed comedies. The essay focus on such modern concerns as feminism, deconstruction, textual theory, and queer theory.

First Published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A Concise History of Western Civilization: From Prehistoric to Early Modern Times: Third Edition By: Gary Forsythe This volume is designed to serve as the textbook for an undergraduate college course that surveys the history of Western Civilization up to the Early Modern Period. It differs from most Western Civilization books in that it places more emphasis on the ancient world and less on the Middle Ages. It treats the ancient Near Eastern civilizations with a view to understanding the historical context of ancient Judaism and the Hebrew Bible, and it also stresses the political thought and institutions of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which have been so important in shaping the political institutions of many modern nations worldwide. The text is a straightforward textbook of basic historical information and represents the content of the author's class lectures in his course on Western Civilization.

Frankenstein is one of the most popular classroom texts in high school and college, and Shelley's other works are attracting renewed attention. This reference is a comprehensive guide to her life and career. Included are hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries about her works, friends, relatives, residences, fictional characters, allusions, and more. Mary Shelley has only recently emerged from the shadows of her famous parents, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, and that of her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Today, Frankenstein (1818, 1831) is one of the most popular classroom texts in high school and college, and Mary Shelley's other works are attracting renewed attention. These works reveal much about the Romantic literary period and Shelley's ongoing development as a writer. In addition to her novels, Shelley wrote short stories, poems, and dramas. These texts illustrate the difficulties of a shifting literary marketplace, while her travel writings illuminate her rich personal experiences and keen intellect. This reference is a comprehensive guide to her life and career. Included are hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries about her works, friends, relatives, residences, fictional characters, allusions, and more. Some entries briefly identify and contextualize their topics, while others offer more extensive discussions. Many entries cite sources of further information, and the volume closes with a bibliography. The work is fully cross-referenced and includes a detailed index and an appendix that discusses the sources of Shelley's quotations.