What People Are Saying

"Broadview's recent Anthology of British Literature is an exciting achievement. Broadview has accomplished what no other anthology to date has been able to do. In its selection of materials, the anthology successfully integrates significant but only recently acknowledged works alongside more familiar greats. Its introductory essays and useful appendices successfully reflect current scholarship while remaining student centred. And its generous, wide-ranging contextualizing material will allow instructors to teach surveys of British literature with strong and serious attention to material culture. With an impressive selection of literary works, an equally impressive collection of visual images, and an exemplary emphasis on print culture and history of the language, The Broadview Anthology [...] sets a new standard by which all other anthologies of British Literature will now have to be measured."

GRAHAM HAMMILL, University of Buffalo, SUNY

 

"From the sample Old English selections I've read, as well as the full and fascinating table of contents, this reasonably priced anthology looks like a winner for courses surveying British literature from Caedmon's Hymn to Monty Python's Flying Circus and beyond."

ROBERTA FRANK, Yale University

 

"The Broadview Anthology of British Literature is a marvellously rich anthology with many complete, well-annotated works, a better representation of important figures than any of its competitors, fascinating 'cultural portfolios,' real attention to book- and print-culture, and great examples of transatlantic and postcolonialist literatures."

ELIZABETH HODGSON, University of British Columbia

 

"The simple fact is that a major work of student-centered scholarship has arrived in the field of English studies, and The Broadview Anthology of British Literature is no mere pretender to the throne long held by the Norton: it is the new standard."
RICHARD NORDQUIST, Director of Liberal Studies, Armstrong Atlantic State University

 

"Broadview has done an exquisite job in assembling this exceptional and exhaustive collection. Very nice indeed!"

NAT HARDY, Rogers State University

 

"Both the six-volume and the concise editions of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature are welcome alternatives to The Norton Anthology of English Literature and The Longman Anthology of British Literature. [...] Scholars and students alike can be assured that the carefully edited texts, notes, introductions, appendices, and glossary are both accurate and useful. The traditional and emerging literary canons are deftly mixed, and each period is well represented by the major and minor works. [...] The illustrations bring the literature alive within the historical and cultural contexts; and the introductory material is a joy to read."

LOREN C. GRUBER, Missouri Valley College

 

"I believe I will switch from the Norton, after all these years. I particularly like the materials in the appendices [in the Broadview]."

MARGARET GOSCILO, University of Pittsburgh

 

"I have just reviewed the introductory material to The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, and I am very impressed. I find the introductions to be democratic in their scope and selection of topics. The anthology as a whole is not a list of 'greatest hits' but rather a measured look at the enduring classics as well as forgotten, but important, literary movements and figures. Readers embark on their anthologized reading selections with a more intimate sense of each era's leading personalities. A wealth of cultural and historical information is provided, and students will surely finish these introductory pieces with a profound lesson: context matters."

WENDY NIELSEN, Montclair State University

 

"The Broadview Anthology of British Literature has many features to recommend it: readable period introductions that cover the primary literary-cultural trends of each era, while at the same time resisting the tendency to oversimplify; vivid visual materials throughout—gorgeous full-colour plates, black and white photos and illustrations, and very useful manuscript page reproductions; excellent facing-page translations of medieval texts that remind students that the texts are not modern; the best poetic translation of Beowulf currently available; considerate examination of the importance of religious belief during early literary eras; and an excellent selection of women authors."

ELIZABETH L. RAMBO, Campbell University

 

"Let me say how impressed I am with The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. The remarkable range of texts, including some in dual-language format, the introductory and background material, the extraordinary illustrations, especially the manuscript pages from different periods of medieval British literary history—all of that makes this anthology the sort of collection medievalists will want to own, quite apart from using it in introductory or survey courses."

WILLIAM FAHRENBACH, DePaul University, Chicago

 

"Never have I been so pleased by an anthology! I'm particularly excited by the medieval drama selections and headnotes. So many other anthologies repeat out-of-date misinformation; Broadview's headnotes are fantastic!"

CHRISTINA FITZGERALD, University of Toledo

 

"To my utter delight, Broadview has put together the best early drama section I’ve ever seen in a non-specialist anthology."
ROBERT W. BARRETT, JR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

“I have used the Norton for years as the core text for the British survey course here at UCLA, and I have considered the Longman; I think the new Broadview is better than either the Norton or the Longman.”
LYNN BATTEN, University of California, Los Angeles

"Volume 1: The Medieval Period is an impressive and usable volume—one I will most likely order for my medieval English literature class. It has a comprehensive, broad range of texts represented, with good notes and introductory essays. The photo reproductions of actual manuscript pages will be helpful to students, as will the beautiful color plates of mss pages and other artefacts at the book's beginning. The best feature is the dual-text approach, with very good translations of all the original Old and Middle English texts set in paired columns. The book will be more obtainable, affordable, and usable, I suspect, than certain older, dominant medieval anthologies. That the Old English texts have been combined in it makes for a rare enough offering; the inclusion of dramatic material from the mystery and morality play traditions finishes the volume off nicely while setting students up for the sixteenth-century drama to follow."

JAMES J. PAXSON, University of Florida, Associate Editor of Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

 

"Volume 1 of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature is wonderful. It is without question the most complete anthology and makes for an easy choice over any other anthology on the market."

JOSH EYLER, Columbus State University

 

"By way of preliminary comments, Volumes 1 and 2 of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature look great! The Old English translations are the best available in any anthology. There are so many great texts, presented so well (dual language for some even!) that I wish I had a whole term to spend on just the medieval volume alone!"

STEFAN HALL, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

 

"The Broadview Anthology of British Literature promises to be a top competitor, and deservedly so. The section on Shakespeare is excellent. What is done with King Lear is unique. The troublesome differences in the two versions (Quarto and Folio) are succinctly explained. Most editions and anthologies simply use a conflated version to reconcile the two. Broadview, however, chooses the Folio as the basic text but, significantly, it adds notes throughout that point out the differences appearing in the Quarto version. In addition, in the case of the three scenes in which differences are most pronounced, the anthology prints both Folio and Quarto versions side by side. This method opens up illuminating and exciting possibilities in the classroom. [...] I regard the unhesitating confrontation with the difficulties of King Lear that is shown by the Broadview editors as a microcosmic illustration of the toughness, determination, and conscientiousness of the editors throughout this entire British literature anthology."

ROBERT H. RAY, Baylor University, author of Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare's King Lear

 

"The breadth of material on women writers in the first three volumes of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature is especially welcome: extensive selections on Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, a play of Aphra Behn's, and the volume of stuff on Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. The bundling of Broadview Editions with one or more volumes of the anthology is also a good idea: having the price break along with the better anthology is a win/win for my students."

JOANNE CORDON, University of Connecticut

 

"Volume 3 of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature looks really great! I like the use of the website to include more material, and the choices of themes for the 'Contexts' sections, which are very much in line with my interests and my sense of the current state of eighteenth-century studies. I appreciate the decision not to segregate women writers, which is also in line with my thinking. The selections are interesting and thoughtful."

ELIZABETH BOHLS, University of Oregon

 

"After at least eight years of cobbling together reading lists, book orders, and course packets for my one-semester Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature course, I have been prompted by the availability of Volume 3 of The Broadview Anthology of British Literature to return to using an anthology. [...] The volume balances the urge for comprehensiveness with a judicious selectivity, offering an extensive representation of authors working in a variety of genres and modes; writers are presented as multi-dimensional so that students must come to terms with their complexity; the period is thus presented as complex and nuanced without being utterly disparate and incoherent. The volume offers fidelity to the period and respect to its writers, an appreciative recognition of the intelligence of student readers, and is an effective tool for teachers. [...] All in all, this volume promises the possibility of offering students more while costing them less, and I'm looking forward to trying it out."

BRIAN CONNERY, Oakland University

 

"I will certainly order Volume 3 for my 'Literature of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century' survey. [...] The plain fact is that Broadview has no serious or up-to-date competition."

JOHN REMPEL, University of Manitoba

 

"Leave it to Broadview! Finally, no more cutting-and-pasting; the new Broadview Anthology contains all I need to teach the literature of slavery from a variety of perspectives. [...] The Broadview editors have selected and edited the most significant literary and contextual works, paring them to practical lengths, while offering a splendid website to augment the contents found in the anthology. Thank you Broadview for achieving a commendable and competitive alternative to the [...] Norton and Longman anthologies."

MARY-ANTOINETTE SMITH, University of Seattle

 

"Victorian print culture in all its diversity is on display in this handsomely illustrated anthology. Indeed, the number of fresh illustrations makes this volume stand out from its competitors. Undergraduate students will find their expectations about fusty Victorians overturned by a little-known photograph of a grinning Queen Victoria on the first page of the introduction. Instructors will find their teaching options widened by useful contextual material and by the supplementary website, which includes extra primary and secondary material. The anthology's selections amply represent canonical authors (often more fully than competing anthologies), but also include important works by women writers such as Grace Aguilar, Susanna Moodie, Mathilde Blind, Augusta Webster, Amy Levy, Charlotte Mew, and Vernon Lee. I am happy to recommend this volume to other instructors, and I look forward to using it in my undergraduate classrooms, where I expect students will enjoy and learn much from this wonderfully illustrated anthology of the always fascinating Victorians."

MARY ELIZABETH LEIGHTON, University of Victoria

 

"[Volume 6] looks like a very promising volume. At the moment I use the Longman, but you have included many of the things I like about that text. The choice of Shaw is better, you have more women's voices, and I like, most of all, your section on the End of Empire and New Britain. That section would make it much easier to teach postcolonial perspectives. I was delighted to see the Thatcher and Blair speeches; these will help the non-history students see at a glance what changed in the 80s and 90s. The inclusions under Eliot and Joyce are very appropriate. [...] It seems like an excellent anthology."

DAVID CREELMAN, University of New Brunswick