Books in Wordsworth Poetry Library series

Romantic and Modernist, mystical dreamer and leader of the Irish Literary Revival, Nobel prizewinner, dramatist and, above all, poet, W.B.Yeats began writing with the intention of putting his 'very self' into his poems. T.S.Eliot, one of many who proclaimed the Irishman's greatness, described Yeats as 'one of those few whose history is the history of their own time, who are part of the consciousness of an age which cannot be understood without them.' For anyone interested in the literature of the twentieth century, Yeat's poetry demands to be read and, what is more, to be read as a whole: this volume includes all of his published poetry, from the hauntingly beautiful early lyrics by which he is still best remembered, to the magnificent later work which put beyond question his status as the foremost poet of his age.

'What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth' So wrote the Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) in 1817. This collection contains all of his poetry: the early work, which is often undervalued even today, the poems on which his reputation rests including the Odes and the two versions of the uncompleted epic Hyperion, and work which only came to light after his death including his attempts at drama and comic verse. It all demonstrates the extent to which he tested his own dictum throughout his short creative life. That life spanned one of the most remarkable periods in English history in the aftermath of the French Revolution and this collection, with its detailed introductions and notes, aims to place the poems very much in their context. The collection is ample proof that Keats deservedly achieved his wish to 'be among the English Poets after my death'

Hannibal had long known his fate should the Romans ever lay hands upon him. He had taken an army right through Spain and into what is now France, crossed the Alps (at a time of year when no one believed it possible), and invaded Italy. Then, for 15 years, he used the country as his battlefield and his home, destroying Roman armies with an almost contemptuous ease. For centuries after his death, Roman mothers would frighten their children into behaving by telling them: "Hannibal is at the Gates!" Even today, Hannibal stands as one of the greatest generals in the history of warfare and his battlefield tactics are still studied in military academies all over the world. Ernie Bradford presents a biography, exploring the strategies of his greatest triumphs and showing us Hannibal as the soldier, the general, the statesman and the private man - revealing a personal charisma and leadership ability that makes his presence still felt in every country bordering the Mediterranean.