Thomas Percy's Reliques (1765) is one of the founding texts of English literature, an epoch-making collection of historical and lyrical ballads that defined the canon of popular poetry and dramatically influenced Romanticism. This is the first monograph devoted to Percy's seminal work. It unravels Percy's working methods and examines his correspondence, library, and papers.

The Making of Percy's Reliques (Oxford English Monographs)

Literature & Fiction

Groom, Nick

British & Irish

Oxford University Press

The Gothic is wildly diverse. It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films, and a distinctive style of rock music. It has influenced political theorists and social reformers, as well as Victorian home décor and contemporary fashion. This Very Short Introduction captures the history of the Gothic from ancient times to the present. It covers the sack of Rome by the barbarian tribes, mediaeval architecture, popular culture in the sixteenth century (including ballads and Revenge Tragedy), political theories of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the rise of the Gothic novel, the Victorian Gothic Revival, and the influence of Gothic culture on film, music, and fashion. It includes familiar Gothic novels such Frankenstein and Dracula, while also covering Gothic gardening, slasher movies, and the current Goth scene. It is the only account of the Gothic that describes the entire history of the term, presenting it in all its richly complex and perversely contradictory glory.

The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

History & Criticism

An authoritative new history of the vampire, two hundred years after it first appeared on the literary scene Published to mark the bicentenary of John Polidori’s publication of The Vampyre, Nick Groom’s detailed new account illuminates the complex history of the iconic creature. The vampire first came to public prominence in the early eighteenth century, when Enlightenment science collided with Eastern European folklore and apparently verified outbreaks of vampirism, capturing the attention of medical researchers, political commentators, social theorists, theologians, and philosophers. Groom accordingly traces the vampire from its role as a monster embodying humankind’s fears, to that of an unlikely hero for the marginalized and excluded in the twenty-first century. Drawing on literary and artistic representations, as well as medical, forensic, empirical, and sociopolitical perspectives, this rich and eerie history presents the vampire as a strikingly complex being that has been used to express the traumas and contradictions of the human condition.

The Vampire: A New History

Yale University Press

An authoritative new history of the vampire, two hundred years after it first appeared on the literary scene\nPublished to mark the bicentenary of John Polidori’s publication of The Vampyre, Nick Groom’s detailed new account illuminates the complex history of the iconic creature. The vampire first came to public prominence in the early eighteenth century, when Enlightenment science collided with Eastern European folklore and apparently verified outbreaks of vampirism, capturing the attention of medical researchers, political commentators, social theorists, theologians, and philosophers. Groom accordingly traces the vampire from its role as a monster embodying humankind’s fears, to that of an unlikely hero for the marginalized and excluded in the twenty-first century.\nDrawing on literary and artistic representations, as well as medical, forensic, empirical, and sociopolitical perspectives, this rich and eerie history presents the vampire as a strikingly complex being that has been used to express the traumas and contradictions of the human condition.

An original and thought-provoking journey into J. R. R. Tolkien's world, revealing how his visionary creation of Middle-Earth is more relevant now than ever before. *Finalist for the The 2023 Tolkien Society Best Book Award* What is it about Middle-Earth and its inhabitants that has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world? And why does Tolkien's visionary creation continue to fascinate and inspire us eighty-five years after its first publication? Beginning with Tolkien's earliest influence--and drawing on key moments from his life,Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century is an engaging and vibrant reinterpretation of the beloved author's work. Not only does it trace the genesis and inspiration for the original books, but the narrative also explores the later film and literary adaptations that have cemented his reputation as a cultural phenomenon. Delving deep into topics such as friendship, failure, the environment, diversity, and Tolkien's place in a post-Covid age, Nick Groom takes us on an unexpected journey through Tolkien's world, revealing how it is more relevant now than perhaps Tolkien himself ever envisioned.

Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century: The Meaning of Middle-Earth Today

Pegasus Books

Known the world over as a symbol of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack is an intricate construction based on the crosses of St, George, St, Andrew and St, Patrick. Nick Groom traces its long and fascinating past, from the development of the Royal Standard and 17th-century clashes over the precise balance of the English and Scottish elements of the first Union Jack to the modern controversies over the flag as a symbol of empire and its exploitation by ultra-rightwing political groups.

The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag

History

Europe

ATLANTIC BOOKS *

William Shakespeare's absolute pre-eminence in contemporary Western culture and society is simply unparalleled. His plays pack theatres and provide Hollywood blockbusters with scripts; his works are considered fundamental to the teaching of English literature. He has given us many of our words, and defined much of how we think. How did this happen? Who decided that Shakespeare deserved such adoration? Can an Elizabethan playwright really be so relevant today, or are there other forces at work? Introducing Shakespeare looks at how 'The Bard' has been worshipped at different times and in different places, demonstrating to what cultural and political ends Shakespeare has been put, and explaining the intensity of current critical disputes. After centuries Shakespeare still remains the battlefield on which our very comprehension of humanity is fought out.

Introducing Shakespeare

Icon,Totem Books

The Union Jack: The Biography

Shakespeare's absolute pre-eminence is simply unparalleled. His plays pack theatres and provide Hollywood with block-buster scripts; his works inspire mountains of scholarship and criticism every year. He has given us many of the very words we speak, and even some of the thoughts we think. Nick Groom and Piero explore how Shakespeare became so famous and influential, and why he is still widely considered the greatest writer ever. They investigate how the Bard has been worshiped at different times and in different places, used and abused to cultural and political ends, and the roots of intense controversies which have surrounded his work. Much more than a biography or a guide to his plays and sonnets, Introducing Shakespeare is a tour through the world of Will and concludes that even after centuries, Shakespeare remains the battlefield on which our very comprehension of humanity is being fought out.

Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide (Graphic Guides)

Comics & Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels

Icon Books

For millennia, the passing seasons and their rhythms have marked our progress through the year. But what do they mean to us now that we lead increasingly atomized and urban lives and our weather becomes ever more unpredictable or extreme? Will it matter if we no longer hear, even notice, the first cuckoo call of spring or rejoice in the mellow fruits of harvest festival? How much will we lose if we can no longer find either refuge or reassurance in the greater natural—and meteorological—scheme of things? Nick Groom's splendidly rich and encyclopedic book is an unabashed celebration of the English seasons and the trove of strange folklore and often stranger fact they have accumulated over the centuries. Each season and its particular history are given their full due, and these chapters are interwoven with others on the calendar and how the year and months have come to be measured, on important dates and festivals such as Easter, May Day and, of course, Christmas, on that defining first cuckoo call, on national attitudes to weather, our seasonal relationship with the land and horticulture and much more. The author expresses the hope that his book will not prove an elegy: only time will tell.

The Seasons: An Elegy for the Passing of the Year

Science & Math

Nature & Ecology

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Groom, Nick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Groom, Nick

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Groom, Nick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Making of Percy's Reliques (Oxford English Monographs)

The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The Vampire: A New History

The Vampire: A New History

Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century: The Meaning of Middle-Earth Today

The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag

Introducing Shakespeare

The Union Jack: The Biography

Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide (Graphic Guides)

The Seasons: An Elegy for the Passing of the Year