encyclopedia

Bloom's Classic Critical Views offers a selection of the finest classic criticism on the authors most commonly read in high school and college classes today. Whereas the popular Bloom's Modern Critical Views series provides the best contemporary criticism on great authors, this series attempts to place these enduring authors in the context of their time and to provide criticism that has proved over the years to be the most valuable to readers and writers. Most of the essays featured in this unique collection are from the 19th and early 20th centuries; selections range from reviews in popular magazines, which demonstrate how a work was received in its own era, to profound essays by some of the strongest critics in the British and American tradition, including Henry James, G.K. Chesterton, Matthew Arnold, and many more. The most important essays are introduced and contextualized by contemporary scholars, who point out how the essays could be useful to a student writing a paper.

Each title features:

• An in-depth critical portrait of an essential writer presented in a historical context
• A useful chronology
• An introductory essay by Harold Bloom.