In all six of its volumes The Broadview Anthology of British Literature presents British literature in a truly distinctive light. Fully grounded in sound literary and historical scholarship, the anthology takes a fresh approach to many canonical authors, and includes a wide selection of work by lesser-known writers. The anthology also provides wide-ranging coverage of the worldwide connections of British literature, and it pays attention throughout to issues of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. It includes comprehensive introductions to each period, providing in each case an overview of the historical and cultural as well as the literary background. It features accessible and engaging headnotes for all authors, extensive explanatory annotations, and an unparalleled number of illustrations and contextual materials. Innovative, authoritative and comprehensive, The Broadview Anthology of British Literature has established itself as a leader in the field.

The full anthology comprises six bound volumes, together with an extensive website component; the latter has been edited, annotated, and designed according to the same high standards as the bound book component of the anthology, and is accessible by using the passcode obtained with the purchase of one or more of the bound volumes.

For the second edition of this volume a considerable number of changes have been made. Henry Fielding’s Tragedy of Tragedies has been added, as has a new section of material from eighteenth-century periodicals. A new Contexts section entitled “Transatlantic Currents” includes writings by such figures as Paine, Franklin, and Price, as well as material on the slave trade. The Contexts sections on “Town and Country” and on “Mind and God, Faith and Science” have also been expanded; a variety of writings on the Royal Society and other scientific matters have been added to the latter. Additional chapters from Equiano’s Interesting Narrative have been added, and there are new selections by Samuel Johnson (including his “Letter to Lord Chesterfield” and facsimile pages from the Dictionary). Book 3 from Gulliver’s Travels has been added; that work now appears in its entirety. There are also additional selections by Pope, Pepys, and Astell.

The Castle of Otranto and The Witlings have been moved from the bound book to the website component of the anthology. (Both are available as volumes in the Broadview Editions series, and may be added at a very modest additional cost in a shrink-wrapped combination package.)

Joseph L. Black is professor and director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Joseph Black's profile page

Leonard Conolly's profile page

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Don LePan, founder and CEO of academic publishing house Broadview Press, is the author of several non-fiction books and of two other works of fiction; his novel Animals (2010) has been described by Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee as “a powerful piece of writing and a disturbing call to conscience.”

 

Don LePan's profile page

Roy Liuzza's profile page

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Anne Lake Prescott's profile page

Barry Qualls' profile page

Jason Rudy's profile page

Claire Waters' profile page

Praise for The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century:

“I will certainly order volume 3 for my Literature of the Restoration and the Eighteenth century survey. … The plain fact is that [the Broadview] has no serious or up-to-date competition. And you can quote me!” — John Rempel, University of Manitoba

“After years of cobbling together [materials] for my one-semester Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature course, I have been prompted by the availability of this new volume to return to using an anthology. The volume balances the urge for comprehensiveness with a judicious selectivity. … The introduction is lucid, smart, and current. … Headnotes are deft … [and] annotations are unobtrusive but extensive and helpful.” — Brian Connery, Oakland University

“Volume 3 of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature looks really great! I like the use of the website to include more material, and the choices of themes for the ‘Contexts’ sections, which are very much in line with my interests and my sense of the current state of eighteenth-century studies. I appreciate the decision not to segregate women writers, which is also in line with my thinking. The selections are interesting and thoughtful.” — Elizabeth Bohls, University of Oregon

Comments on The Broadview Anthology of British Literature:

“ … sets a new standard by which all other anthologies of British Literature will now have to be measured.” — Graham Hammill, SUNY Buffalo

“With the publication of the Broadview Anthology of British Literature, teachers and students in survey and upper-level undergraduate courses have a compelling alternative to the established anthologies by Norton and Longman. … This is a very real intellectual, as well as pedagogical, achievement.” — Nicholas Watson, Harvard University

“ … an excellent anthology. Good selections for my purposes (including some nice surprises), just the right level of annotation, affordable—and a hit with my students. I will definitely use it again.” — Ira Nadel, University of British Columbia

“After twenty years of teaching British literature from the Norton anthologies, I’m ready to switch to the Broadview. The introductions to each period are key to teaching a survey course, and those in the Broadview seem to me to be both more accessible to students and more detailed in their portraits of each era than are those of the Norton. And Broadview’s selection of authors and texts includes everything I like to teach from the Norton, plus a good deal else that’s of real interest.” — Neil R. Davison, Oregon State University

“Norton’s intros are good; Broadview’s are better, with greater clarity and comprehension, as well as emphasis upon how the language and literature develop, both reacting or responding to and influencing or modifying the cultural, religious/philosophical, political, and socio-economic developments of Britain. The historian and the linguist in me thoroughly enjoyed the flow and word-craftsmanship. If you have not considered the anthology for your courses, I recommend that you do so.” — Robert J. Schmidt, Tarrant County College