Mary Shelley is best known for her classic novel Frankenstein, a literary masterpiece that remains one of the most frequently taught books in high school and college classrooms, but her other works of fiction are also important and increasingly popular. In addition, her personal life continues to fascinate. She was the wife of the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and the daughter of the feminist activist Mary Wollstonecraft. The new Critical Companion to Mary Shelley is the definitive one-stop resource for anyone interested in this influential author. Coverage includes: -A concise...

J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the most popular writers of the 20th century. His two most famous works of fiction, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, have sold hundreds of millions of copies and completely transformed modern fantasy fiction. In addition, Tolkien was a celebrated scholar, a professor at Oxford, and the author of the most influential article on the great Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf ever written.

The new Critical Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien provides a reliable, up-to-date, and encyclopedic source of information on this influential writer for high school and college-level students,...

Tim O'Brien is the one of the greatest living American authors. He was drafted for service in Vietnam as soon as he graduated from Macalester College in 1968. His Vietnam War novels The Things They Carried and Going After Cacciato are widely acknowledged as some of the best American war novels ever written. Critical Companion to Tim O'Brien is a comprehensive new resource for anyone interested in this author's life, works, and achievements. Coverage includes: A concise but thorough biography of O'Brien Entries on all O'Brien's works, including his war novels, Going After Cacciato, The...