Books published by publisher Oxford Clarendon Press

The Pharsalia is Lucan's epic on the civil wars between Caesar and Pompey. It is a poem of immense energy and intelligence in which spectacle and spectatorship are prominent. Leigh shows that by transforming certain Virgilian narrative devices Lucan launches an attack on the Augustan ideology of the Aeneid: where Virgil writes the foundation myth for the new regime and celebrates the connections between Augustus and Aeneas, Lucan produces a savagely republican anti-Aeneid which represents the civil wars as the death of Rome.

The newest addition to the acclaimed Clarendon Dickens is based on the three-volume 1861 edition; variant readings, including those in manuscript and extant proofs, are recorded in the textual apparatus, providing an unusually rich source of information on Dickens's methods of composition. Appendices include the original ending, the author's notes, and two textual examinations, one of the five so-called "editions" of 1861, the other a comparison of the one-volme 1862 edition with the 1864 Library edition.

"The Holy War," John Bunyan's fourth work of major importance, appeared in 1682. Although "The Pilgrim's Progress" has always been the most popular of Bunyan's numerous works, "The Holy War" holds a firm second place in the hearts of Christians throughout the world. As in "The Pilgrim's Progress," "The Holy War" is a fascinating allegory, a delightful narrative. As Ernest W. Bacon describes it in "John Bunyan: Pilgrim and Dreamer": "The story sets out to recall the fall and redemption of mankind under the guise of a besieged city. The city of Mansoul originally belonged by right to Shaddai or God, but was betrayed through Ear Gate and Eye Gate into the hands of Diabolus or the Devil, besieging giant who takes control. In the hands of the enemy, Mansoul loses its Major, Lord Understanding, and Mr. Conscience is dismissed from his post as Recorder. Lord Will-be-Will becomes the Lord of Mansoul - man's fallen will, self-will, and ill-will all combined in one unpleasant and anti-God character." In the end Mansoul is recaptured by Emmanuel's army, and Diabolus is driven out. There is triumph over sin and evil - one of the Bible's most comforting themes.

Beddard here studies the events and issues which dethroned the Catholic James II and enthroned the Protestant William and Mary. Beginning with the dynastic revolution in England, he examines the dependent kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland, the American colonies, the United Provinces, and the continental European background. Themes explored include the role of the Whigs in William of Orange's success, the shift in Tory opinion, the part played by the Scottish nobility, Ireland's reduction to colony status, the evolution of Dutch foreign and domestic policy, and transatlantic repercussions. The volume concludes with an examination of 1688 and its place in the Whig theory of history. Drawing on the expertise of an international team of scholars, the volume makes an important contribution to the historiographical assessment of the revolutions of 1688 and their profound impact on subsequent history.

Romola, George Eliot's only historical novel, always occupied a special place in her own affections. Looking back at the end of her career, she remarked "I could swear by every sentence as having been written with my best blood." Henry James called it "on the whole the finest thing she wrote." Yet since its first appearance the novel has perplexed many of Eliot's admirers by the range and density of its historical references. The Clarendon Edition, based on the original Cornhill serialization with emendations from later authoritative editions, traces and explains the allusions and provides a comprehensive account of the composition and publishing history of the novel: it confirms Romola as one of Eliot's greatest artistic achievements.

As well as being the author of the greatest of all children's plays, Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie also wrote sophisticated social comedy and political satire. The Admirable Crichton and What Every Woman Knows are shrewd and entertaining contribution to the politics of class and gender, while Mary Rose is one of the best ghost stories written for the stage.

This book explores the "self-conscious poem" - that is, a poem concerned with poetry that displays awareness of itself as poetry - in the work of the major Romantic poets, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Michael O'Neill's readings freshly illuminate the imaginative distinction of many famous and often-studied poems, and revalue less regarded works. An extended coda looks at some post-Romantic poets, particularly Yeats, Stevens, Auden, and Clampitt, in the light of the book's central theme.

This path-breaking study looks at the nature of contemporary environmental politics, analyzing the emergence and sustenance of institutional perceptions of environmental problems. The book argues that a new perspective-- "ecological modernization", which stresses the opportunities of environmental policy for modernizing the economy and stimulating technological innovation--has come to replace the antagonistic debates of the 1970s.

This edition offers a fully modernized text of one of Shakespeare's most fascinating plays. Henry IV, Part 2 is the only play in the canon whose structure almost exactly mirrors that of its predecessor, and thereby affords unique perspectives on Shakespeare's art and craft. Far from being the impoverished country cousin of an illustrious work, Part 2 introduces unforgettable new characters like Pistol and Shallow, and memorable minor players such as Doll Tearsheet and the reluctant Goucestershire recruits. Above all, it gives us more Falstaff. Although he is now politically distanced from Hal, he looms larger than ever as a mischievous figure who never ceases to fascinate with his unique blend of native wit, inventiveness, and corruption. Through a radical reconsideration of the play's text(s) and date, it is argued here for the first time that the character of Falstaff was called Oldcastle in Part 2 as well as in as in Part 1, and that it was the vetting of Part 2 for the 1596-7 Christmas performances at Court which led to the change of name in both plays. This edition moreover takes the view that the Folio-only passages in the play reflect the text of the original prompt-book.