• The best books on Poetry of the First World War - Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology ed. Tim Kendall
  • The best books on Poetry of the First World War - From the Line: Scottish War Poetry 1914-1945 ed. David Goldie and Roderick Watson
  • The best books on Poetry of the First World War - The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry ed. George Walter
  • The best books on Poetry of the First World War - The War Poems of Wilfred Owen by Wilfred Owen, ed. John Stallworthy
  • The best books on Poetry of the First World War - The Annotated Collected Poems by Edward Thomas, ed. Edna Longley

The best books on Poetry of the First World War, recommended by Guy Cuthbertson

Poetry written during the First World War has remained prominent in the public consciousness for more than a century; writers like Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Robert Graves are still commonly studied in British schools and universities. Here, Guy Cuthbertson—literary scholar and author of an acclaimed biography of Owen—selects five books to give an overview of the poetry produced during the Great War.

  • Sylvia Plath Books - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol 2: 1956–1963 by Peter Steinberg and Karen Kukil (eds.) & Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath Books, recommended by Tim Kendall

Though biographical sensation has often diverted attention from her work, Sylvia Plath remains one of the finest lyric poets of the twentieth century, argues Professor Tim Kendall, Academic Director of Arts and Culture at Exeter and author of Sylvia Plath: A Critical Study. Here, he recommends the best places to start (or return to) with Plath, from a fresh look at Ariel to illuminating an oft-overlooked, brilliant appendix in her unabridged journals.

  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Shakespeare's Sonnets by Katherine Duncan-Jones & William Shakespeare
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Helen Vendler & William Shakespeare
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - All the Sonnets of Shakespeare by Paul Edmonson, Stanley Wells & William Shakespeare
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Jane Kingsley-Smith
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Nets by Jen Bervin
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Lucy Negro, Redux by Caroline Randall Williams

The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, recommended by Scott Newstok

The beauty of Shakespeare’s sonnets speaks to us down the centuries, their lines peaking out at us from the titles of famous books or enjoying outings at weddings or other romantic occasions. But they were not always regarded as perfectly-formed jewels, and the relationships they portray not as conventional as many of us presume. Here, Shakespeare scholar Scott Newstok talks us through books that help us learn more about Shakespeare’s sonnets, from the best introduction to the poems for students through to their afterlife and recent creative interpretations.

  • The best books on The Odyssey - The Greek Plays by Aeschylus, Euripides & Sophocles
  • The best books on The Odyssey - The Aeneid (Robert Fitzgerald translation) by Virgil
  • The best books on The Odyssey - Collected Ancient Greek Novels by B. P. Reardon (translator)
  • The best books on The Odyssey - Paradise Lost by John Milton
  • The best books on The Odyssey - The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

The best books on The Odyssey, recommended by Emily Wilson

The Odyssey has been constantly rewritten by centuries of writers, but like so much of Greek myth, it's always already open to revising its own narrative. Emily Wilson, Professor of Classics at the University of Pennsylvania and the first woman to translate the Odyssey into English, recommends the best books to read after (or alongside) the Ancient Greek epic, and offers sage wisdom about both translating ancient epics and why everyone can learn from the Odyssey today.

  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - Troilus and Criseyde Geoffrey Chaucer (ed. by Stephen Barney)
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - Oxford Guides to Chaucer: Troilus and Criseyde by Barry Windeatt
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - The Double Sorrow of Troilus: A Study of Ambiguities in ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ by Ida L. Gordon
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - The Tragic Argument of Troilus and Criseyde by Gerald Morgan
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde by Lavinia Greenlaw

Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List, recommended by Jenni Nuttall

Troilus and Criseyde has a centuries’ old backstory. Long before Renaissance dramas or realist novels, Chaucer wrote a love story set in a besieged city that was a deep psychological exploration of character and human relationships. Jenni Nuttall, author of Troilus and Criseyde: A Reader’s Guide, shares her reading recommendations after over a decade of teaching the poem to Oxford undergraduates.