This third collection in the Family History Series (Jane Austen and the Brontes have already been published), is a five-volume set which looks at the cultural and biographical background to Thomas Hardy, embracing rare and out-of-print books, pamphlets and journal articles.
Together these original sources include important writings and interviews on Hardy by family and friends, covering his life and relationships, his intellectual and musical background, his family background and their homes and haunts. It provides an invaluable amount of hard to find material for any serious...

First published in 1977, this concise and insightful study of the life and works of Thomas Hardy provides a thorough examination of Hardy's literary output. Alongside a brief biography of Hardy's life, Professor Page's study also spotlights his major and minor novels, his short stories, his non-fiction prose and his verse.

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels. The selected sources range from important essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included,...

Since Speech in the English Novel first appeared in 1973, it has won international recognition as an important pioneering study of a topic that lies on the frontiers of literature and linguistics - the nature and function of fictional dialogue and its relationship to real speech. Drawing on a wide range of examples from many periods, the book includes general and theoretical chapters and also case-studies of particular texts, as well as a whole chapter devoted to Dickens. It has been found stimulating and useful by teachers and students in many countries, and has been praised by numerous...