A new and uniquely accessible history of Wales.

For a small land, Wales has produced an extraordinarily large and accomplished body of literature. The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales provides an excellent guide to Welsh literary heritage, ranging from the Druids and the days of King Arthur to the present-day flowering of Welsh national consciousness. In a little less than 3,000 entries, it captures the complexities of Welsh poetic art, the lives and achievements of its greatest writers, the myths, legends and colorful folktales, and the events and movements that have informed its history. A wealth of detailed information, the Companion is indispensable for anyone interested in the literature and culture of Wales.

"Tales of giants and heroes, of beautiful maidens, of the Emperor of Rome and the Emperor Arthur, of legendary history and historical legend, all told with the skill of long-trained storytellers and sensitive touch of polished writers. Such are the four tales translated here: How Culhwch got Olwen, perhaps the oldest but certainly, by far, the most exuberant of Arthurian tales, the finely crafted Dream of Maxen Wledig, Emperor of Rome, who fell in love in his sleep, the folkloric triad of The Story of Lludd and Llefelys, with its link to the legends of Merlin, and the exceedingly colourful Dream of Rhonabwy.'" This is how John K. Bollard introduces his new translation of those four native Welsh tales found in the same two medieval manuscripts as the great classic The Mabinogi. The text is beautifully illustrated by Anthony Griffiths's photographs of the locations and landscapes evoked by and specifically named in the text, reminding us of the timelessness and beauty of the stories and land they inhabit.

Here is the essential reference book for anyone with an interest in British history. Drawing on the latest scholarship, over 100 contributors describe and analyse people and events that have shaped and defined life in Britain over 2000 years. This edition is revised and updated to extend the coverage.

This book is a comprehensive single-volume history of literature in the two major languages of Wales from post-Roman to post-devolution Britain.

This is the first reference guide to the political, cultural and economic histories that form the subject-matter of postcolonial literatures written in English.The focus of the Companion is principally on the histories of postcolonial literatures in the Anglophone world - Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Canada. There are also long entries discussing the literatures and histories of those further areas that have also claimed the title 'postcolonial', notably Britain, East Asia, Ireland, Latin America and the United States. The Companion contains:*220 entries written by 150 acknowledged scholars of postcolonial history and literature;*covers major events, ideas, movements, and figures in postcolonial histories*long regional survey essays on historiography and women's histories. Each entry provides a summary of the historical event or topic and bibliographies of postcolonial literary works and histories. Extensive cross-references and indexes enable readers to locate particular literary texts in their relevant historical contexts, as well as to discover related literary texts and histories in other regions with ease.

This A-Z reference work provides the first comprehensive reference guide to the wide range of historical writing with which women have been involved, particularly since the Renaissance. The Companion covers biographical writing, travelogue and historical fictions, broadening the concept of history to include the forms of writing with which women have historically engaged. The focus is on women writing in English internationally, but historical and historiographical traditions from beyond the English-speaking world are also examined. Brief biographies of individual writers are included.