Francisco Nieva: Coronada y el toro
Edited by Komla Aggor
Critical Texts 64•15 November 2021
- ‘La prestigiosa editorial asentada en Cambridge Modern Humanities Research Association acaba de publicar una edición de la obra del genio español Francisco Nieva, «Coronada y el Toro», con una magnífica introducción y estudio del especialista en Nieva Komla Aggor, profesor de la Texas Christian University. «Coronada y el Toro» es una obra maestra.’ — Martín-Miguel Rubio Esteban, ABC 29 September 2020, 14
- ‘La Modern Humanities Research Association acaba de publicar una excelente edición de la obra de Francisco Nieva, Coronada y el toro, preparada por el investigador experto en la obra de Nieva, Komla Aggor.’ — www.francisconieva.com September 2020
Reading Literature in Portuguese: Commentaries in Honour of Tom Earle
Cláudia Pazos Alonso and Stephen Parkinson
Legenda (General Series) •25 September 2013
Classical Comedy 1508-1786: A Legacy from Italy and France
Richard Andrews
Italian Perspectives 55•20 October 2022
- ‘An encyclopedic contribution to the history of comedy, with a particular focus on the transformation of comedy in Paris, where the greatest playwrights preserved the genre’s positive vision and harnessed the vitality of the Italian “Arte” to create their more serious comedies of character... The “Analyses” section is particularly valuable. It is divided between technical questions and plot or character issues, and the technical discussions, informed by Andrews extraordinary knowledge and deep understanding of how comedy works, are outstanding.’ — 552-54, Annali d'Italianistica 2023, 41, Laurie Shepard
Imagining Terrorism: The Rhetoric and Representation of Political Violence in Italy 1969-2009
Edited by Pierpaolo Antonello and Alan O'Leary
Italian Perspectives 18•17 July 2009
- ‘This is a thought-provoking collection that requires the reader to engage with representations and form as critical sites of historical understanding.’ — Derek Duncan, Modern Language Review 106.3, 2011, 889-90 (full text online)
- ‘For many, the murder of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978 by the BR and the various neofascist bombings have become myths or legendary occurrences ones fraught with profound meaning for the human condition. Even some of the former militants and terrorists — the perpetrators, in other words — have participated in these productions (Moro’s killers, for example). In fact, one cannot help be left with the impression that the artists and the ex-militants are really talking to each other.’ — Leonard Weinberg, Journal of Modern History 84.3 (September 2012), 752-54
- ‘This broad-ranging collection of fourteen essays is innovative in offering an extremely rich and multi-faceted portrait of this complex topic... makes a real contribution to show how terrorist brutality was expressed, encoded and schematized by the people involved in these dramatic events even before the violent actions became the object of rhetorical analysis.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 48.4 (October 2012), 490
El camino inverso: del cine al teatro: La vida en un hilo, de Edgar Neville y Mi adorado Juan, de Miguel Mihura
Joanna Bardzińska
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 91•1 May 2014
- ‘Bardzińska has provided the reader with a wealth of detail and the text will be of interest to scholars of the ‘otra generación’, and of value to those researching Neville, Mihura and/or their works created for screen and stage, as well as those interested in approaches to reverse adaptation more broadly.’ — Rhiannon McGlade, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 94, 2017, 1246-47
Unbinding Medea: Interdisciplinary Approaches to a Classical Myth from Antiquity to the 21st Century
Edited by Heike Bartel and Anne Simon
Legenda (General Series) •6 September 2010
- ‘This handsome volume, with generous illustrations, bibliography, and index... Medea has become a cutting-edge subject in the past dozen years. Certain insistent concerns, however, such as those of feminism, do set this latest collection apart from the others. At the highest level, Phillips's essay provides a wider philosophical perspective in what could be a suitable conclusion for this whole book. Its claim that Medea's story is in part a lawyer's story "of the taming of instinct and impulse and their ultimate subjection to the Law" calls to mind the restless inquiring after justice in The Oresteia and so many other Greek tragedies.’ — Richard F. Hardin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 22 February 2011
- ‘This collection deserves to be required reading for all those interested in the relationship between ancient and modern, and the role of mythology in the process of defining reality.’ — E. M. Griffiths, Modern Language Review 107.2, April 2012, 588-89 (full text online)
Welttheater: Hofmannsthal, Richard von Kralik, and the Revival of Catholic Drama in Austria, 1890-1934
Judith Beniston
Bithell Series of Dissertations 23 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 46•1 January 1998
Crossing Fields in Modern Spanish Culture
Edited by Federico Bonaddio and Xon de Ros
Legenda (General Series) •1 December 2003
- ‘Federico Bonaddio and Xon de Ros have put together a very useful series of short and punchy articles which span over a hundred and fifty years of Spanish culture, from the 1860s to the present day... Without doubt this collection would make an excellent addition to any university library. The essays on canonical texts may very well prove invaluable to undergraduate students while those on lesser-known writers, artists, and cinematographers will surely fulfil the same function for postgraduates and the academic community in general.’ — Jean Andrews, Modern Language Review 101.3, July 2006, 876-77 (full text online)
Culture, Censorship and the State in Twentieth-Century Italy
Edited by Guido Bonsaver and Robert Gordon
Legenda (General Series) •13 September 2005
Selected Essays of Malcolm Bowie II: Song Man
Malcolm Bowie
Legenda (General Series) vol 2 of 2•4 December 2013
- ‘Only someone with Bowie’s exquisite powers of expression and formidably focused, well-stocked mind could home in so closely on the multilevelled play of thought in some of the most difficult modern writers, and especially on the places where their work crosses aesthetic boundaries... It is therefore a huge treat to be able to revel in the publication of his Selected Essays, impeccably edited by Alison Finch and beautifully produced by Legenda... Even in the space of a short review, Bowie’s writing offers both pleasure and intense mental stimulation. For readers old and new, there are marvels in store in these two magnificent volumes.’ — Michael Sheringham, French Studies 68.3, July 2014, 422-23
- ‘These two volumes can only add to our sense of [Bowie's] importance... Criticism like this is clearly so much more than criticism: it is an engagement with the act of creation that is brought back to creation itself. These two volumes are full of brilliance and insight and deftly communicated and thus infectious pleasure.’ — Patrick McGuinness, Times Literary Supplement 5805, 4 July 2014, 21
- ‘Bowie’s style appeals both to generalist and specialist readers; his clarity makes it possible for all to follow the argument even in his more technical writings, while the sharpness of his insights make his pieces for general audiences appealing to specialists as well. His writing always strikes a balance between sophistication and accessibility, often with a dose of wit (see especially his delightful self-review of Proust Among the Stars [II: 203-6]), allowing us to travel with him through our own areas of expertise and amateur interest.’ — Joseph Acquisto, Nineteenth-Century French Studies 43.1-2, 2014
- ‘How Verdi moves Shakespeare’s Othello around the globe, finding the mental ‘fingerprint’ in Winnicott, introducing Judith Butler, deciphering Stéphane Mallarmé, exploring brevity in Proust (yes), Liszt’s relationship with Wagner, ‘that most exhausting of sons-in-law’: these are just a few of the subjects considered with such zest by Malcolm Bowie, who was a critic of immense talent.’ — Edward Hughes, Times Higher Education Supplement 1 January 2015, 63
- ‘Evidence abounds in these pieces of Bowie’s keen appetite for intrinsically difficult subject-matter. Indeed, his ability to sustain his critical nerve in the handling of complex material was to become a hallmark of his achievement... Yet alongside this intensity of engagement with serious subject-matter, we also see the poise and panache of a critic who was so evidently at home with textual composition.’ — Edward J. Hughes, Modern Language Review 111.1, January 2016, 228-29 (full text online)
The Experience of Colour in Lorca's Theatre
Jade Boyd
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures 54•13 September 2022
- ‘Boyd is sensitive to what is left out as well as what is explicit. She thus underlines the absence in this tragedy of stage directions regarding lighting. She also reads ‘verbal colour’ into objects, food and animals, so the mention of frogs, chocolate, earth, fire and goldfinches becomes part of an imagined canvas of images, sometimes as potent as what we can see on stage.’ — John London, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 100.6, 2023, 930-32 (full text online)
Georg Kaiser, After Expressionism: Five Plays
Translated by Fred Bridgham
New Translations 11•1 May 2016
- ‘This volume is a valuable addition to world literature libraries, and of great interest to scholars of theatre... Scholars can be grateful to Bridgham for his efforts in placing these works before a broader public.’ — Carole J. Lambert, Translation and Literature 27, 2019, 100-07 (full text online)
Edoardo Sanguineti: Literature, Ideology and the Avant-Garde
Edited by Paolo Chirumbolo and John Picchione
Italian Perspectives 26•28 May 2013
- ‘Chirumbolo and Picchione’s impressive volume represents a significant and timely addition to the field, which scholars of Sanguineti will want to follow and explore in the future.’ — Florian Mussgnug, Modern Language Review 111.1, January 2016, 268-70 (full text online)
- ‘This dense but lucid collection makes a timely and valuable contribution to studies of Sanguineti's works and influence. The combination of critical and personal essays will make this volume particularly compelling to scholars interested in Sanguineti's legacy.’ — Mary Migliozzi, Forum Italicum 250-53
- ‘A tre anni dalla scomparsa di Edoardo Sanguineti, Paolo Chirumbolo e John Picchione propongono questo interessantissimo volume dedicato al poeta genovese. I due curatori sono da annoverare fra i più prolifici ed attenti critici letterari sulla neoavanguardia italiana in Nord America... Un’autentica perla, un volume essenziale per chi volesse non solo occuparsi di uno dei guru dello sperimentalismo italiano, ma anche per chi intendesse affrontare il variegato mondo della neoavanguardia italiana con più ampio respiro.’ — Beppe Cavatorta, Annali d'Italianistica 32, 2014, 670-72
Alexis Piron, Gustave-Wasa
Edited by Derek Connon
Critical Texts 57•8 March 2016
- ‘Connon’s rich critical edition boasts extensive contextualization and intriguing paratexts. His wide-ranging Introduction analyses the tragedic elements of pity, terror, and character self-revelation, alongside Piron’s spirited self-defence against Prévost’s accusations of plagiarism.’ — Síofra Pierse, Modern Language Review 113.1, January 2018, 244-45 (full text online)
Alexis Piron, Le Claperman and L’Âne d’or
Edited by Derek Connon
Critical Texts 84•1 December 2022
Identity and Transformation in the Plays of Alexis Piron
Derek Connon
Legenda (General Series) •23 February 2007
- ‘What emerges from Connon’s analyses is the sheer vitality of Piron’s production, its sometimes "anarchic" inventiveness, and its propensity to question hierarchies and cross boundaries of genre... I recommend this book highly.’ — Mark Darlow, Modern Language Review 103.3, July 2008, 855-56 (full text online)
- ‘This is a particularly good-looking book, with attractive hardcover, smart format, quality white paper and lovely typesetting. It boasts the kind of finish that just makes reading particularly pleasant, and all the more so when its content inspires one to return to a relatively forgotten playwright who clearly deserves more attention than his Villon-like epitaph irreverently suggests: ‘Ci-gît Piron, qui ne fut rien,/Pas même académicien’.’ — Síofra Pierse, French Studies 477-78
Le Philosophe sans le savoir, by Michel-Jean Sedaine
Translated by Derek Connon 
New Translations 19•26 June 2023
Alexis Piron, L’Antre de Trophonius et La Robe de dissention, ou le faux-prodige
Edited by Derek Connon
Phoenix 2•1 June 2011
- ‘Volume 2 of the MHRA Phoenix series on eighteenth-century French theatre will be particularly attractive to students of early modern French theatre and history ... Connon’s succinct presentation brings to life both Piron and the vibrant theatrical world of the period.’ — Síofra Pierse, Modern Language Review 108, 2013, 304-05 (full text online)
Force from Nietzsche to Derrida
Clare Connors
Legenda (General Series) •23 April 2010
Le Siège de Calais by Pierre-Laurent De Belloy
Edited by Logan J. Connors
Phoenix 6•1 August 2014
- ‘This scholarly edition will be of use in the undergraduate and graduate classroom as well as of interest to all those who are fascinated by French theatre and drama on the eve of the Revolution.’ — Jessica Munns, Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Theatre Research 28, 2013, 117-19
Maud Beerbohm Tree: Lady of the Stage
Susana Cory-Wright
Legenda (General Series) •26 February 2018
- ‘This is a beautifully presented work, with an attractive cover and illustrations... There is much emphasis upon the personal life and career of Maud, but the book is also good on the sociopolitical changes taking place in the theatre at this time, and on the role of women in society.’ — unsigned notice, The Year's Work in English Studies 98.1, 2019, 657-58
Laya, L'Ami des lois
Edited by Mark Darlow and Yann Robert
Phoenix 4•1 September 2011
- ‘This edition is thus an essential resource for anyone with an interest in Laya’s play, and will be a rewarding read for those working in the area of revolutionary theatre.’ — Catrin Francis, Modern Language Review 108, 2013, 976-77 (full text online)
- ‘the editors prove overwhelmingly that Laya’s comedy was a veritable social event in its time and is a necessary read today for students and scholars of the Revolution and of its rich, but often overlooked, theatrical culture.’ — Logan J. Connors, French Studies 67, 2013, 254-55
- ‘on se réjouit de pouvoir disposer d’une nouvelle édition critique séparée et de qualité ... Une bibliographie sélective termine le volume, qui sera incontestablement
très utile à la fois aux spécialistes du théâtre et aux chercheurs en histoire culturelle.’ — Jean-Noël Pascal, Dix-huitième siècle 44, 2012, 674
Michel-Jean Sedaine: Théâtre de la Révolution
Edited by Mark Darlow
Critical Texts 63•29 September 2017
- ‘Théâtre de la Révolution is an impeccably researched edition of Michel-Jean Sedaine’s last operatic works... Sedaine’s Théâtre de la Révolution will be required reading for scholars of eighteenth-century theatre and music. Thanks to Darlow’s introduction, the work is also an essential contribution to scholarship on cultural production and policy during the Revolution... Overall, eighteenth-century French musical theatre, ignored by dix-huitièmistes for generations, has a champion in Mark Darlow and a welcome new title in his edition of Sedaine’s last librettos.’ — Logan Connors, H-France 18.95, April 2018
- ‘This is another admirable critical edition from Darlow which sheds new light on a playwright’s transition from Ancien Régime to Revolution.’ — Clare Siviter, Modern Language Review 114.1, January 2019, 144-45 (full text online)
The Realism of Luigi Capuana: Theory and Practice in the Development of Late Nineteenth-Century Italian Realism
Judith Davies
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 13•1 January 1979
Divided Loyalties: East German Writers and the Politics of German Division 1945-1953
Peter Davies
Bithell Series of Dissertations 24 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 49•1 January 2000