The fifteen Sherlock Holmes stories reprinted in this volume are generally held to be the most significant, innovative and influential tales featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's archetypal detective. Drawn principally from the first three Holmes collections, these selections are each followed by a concise commentary on its relation to Doyle, other Holmes tales, and the genre of detective fiction. The nine accompanying essays, which reflect the recent critical interest in Holmes, examine the stories from a variety of contemporary critical perspectives. The first five essays (by Martin Priestamn,...

This selection of letters, essays, and speeches demonstrates how the clashing perspectives of two individuals shaped and exemplified the major issues of national politics between the War of 1812 and the territorial crisis of 1850 -- the preservation of the union, federal commitments to banking, tariffs, internal improvements, and the egalitarian tone of national political culture.

The civil rights movement's most prominent leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) and Malcolm X (1925-1965), represent two wings of the revolt against racism: nonviolent resistance and revolution "by any means necessary." This volume presents the two leaders' relationship to the civil rights movement beyond a simplified dualism. A rich selection of speeches, essays, and excerpts from Malcolm X's autobiography and King's sermons shows the breadth and range of each man's philosophy, demonstrating their differences, similarities, and evolution over time. Organized into six topical groups,...

This edition of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure reprints the Bevington edition of the play accompanied by four sets of thematically arranged primary documents and illustrations designed to facilitate many different approaches to Shakespeare's play and the early modern culture out of which the play emerges. The texts include royal proclamations, speeches, court records, sermons, biographical writings, prayers, ballads, poetry, excerpts from plays and the Bible, and drawings, woodcuts, and engravings. These documents contextualize the role of rulers and government in Jacobean society,...