The Earl of Surrey was the co-founder, along with Sir Thomas Wyatt, of modern English poetry; the whole procession from Spenser and Shakespeare down to Yeats and Eliot starts with Surrey and Wyatt. Surrey's most notable contributions were the creation of English blank verse and the development of the English sonnet from Italian models; without Surrey we should not have Shakespeare as we know him. Surrey was also a distinguished soldier and a loving husband, who was executed for treason at age twenty-nine.

The nineteenth century produced two excellent lives of Surrey, those of G. F. Nott and Edmond Bapst, the latter in French. The twentieth century had not done so well, as the principal accomplishment of Surrey's 1938 biographer, Edwin Casady, was translating Bapst's discoveries into English. William Sessions swings the balance the other way, his Henry Howard, the Poet Earl of Surrey being a magnificent tour of Surrey's life, his poetry, and his world.

Sessions offers the first fully integrated biography of Surrey, addressing his art, family, society, culture, religion, travels, and military career. The book is based on a massive amount of research, both archival and geographical, for Sessions visited virtually every site of importance in Surrey's life. The illustrations alone, some never published before or not properly identified, almost justify the cost of the book.

Sessions corrects many key facts of Surrey's unevenly documented career. He shows, for example, that Surrey was a moderate Protestant, whereas Nott, Bapst, and Casady simply assume that Surrey shared their own religious views--an approach complicated by the fact that Nott was a Protestant while the other two were Catholics. Getting Surrey's religion straight is absolutely essential to understanding a short life spent at the center of the escalating violence of the early Reformation. Finally, Sessions uses the full texts of the original documents concerning Surrey's downfall (instead of reading the published summaries), thereby untangling much of the mystery that occurred amid the religious strife, dynastic uncertainty, and naked ambition at the end of the reign of Henry VIII.

The Library of America has published 5 volumes of Henry Jame stories, covering 1864 - 1910, and I'm hooked. Henry James has to be read slowly; every word he writes seems to matter to the story. He is a master craftman of the English language, and can say so much without being explicit.

James wrote most of these 19 short stories while living in London and visiting the continent. This volume of his stories starts with "Professor Fargo" and ends with "The Author of 'Beltraffio'". But, perhaps the most famous of the stories included here is "Daisy Miller: A Study." Few, if any, of these stories will disappoint a 20th century reader.

Unlike some fortunate reviewers, who have had careers as librarians or who have degrees in English Literatue, I started reading authors like Henry James on my own. I approach a author just for the pleasure of reading his/her work. I started reading Henry James with these short stories and have graduated to his novels. At first his writing seemed slow and stiff. But, once I settled into the cadence of his writing, I concluded that this suited the formality of the upper classes he wrote about. Now, I can't seem to put down one of his stories until the end.

James wrote so much during his life that it seems impossible to read all that he wrote, but I think I'll try.

William Shapkespeare's Henry V receives a gratifying full-cast narration and production which brings to life the underlying ironies and contrasts inherent in Shakespeare's play. The complete text here has been fully dramatized from the New Cambridge Shakespeare text and is truly outstanding.

I have the Riverside anthology but wanted an individual copy of this play. At first glance you might think this edition is 'for kids' because it has illustrations and photographs and it is in fact full of acting and pronunciation notes for young actors. But as a grad student studying this text more closely than most people every need/want to do - I can wholeheartedly recommend this version for anyone.* It is endorsed by Oxford and the text is perfect. More importantly (this is what sold me) instead of having the notes on the bottom of the page which can cause frustration and headaches when you're constantly losing your place and having to find it again, this edition has the notes on the side, right NEXT to where the annotated words are. I can't tell you how much more enjoyable it was to read that way. And the notes themselves are excellent - the only possible complaint is that there are too many of them and experienced Shakespeare readers might not need so many, but I don't know why anyone would really complain about that. Preferable to Arden, Cambridge, Norton - any other edition in my opinion.

*The only exception I can think of is a textual scholar - this edition does not have textual notes indicating which words were inserted or contested in the Folio or later editions.

Tom Pendleton's collection of essays on Shakespeare's "Henry VI" plays provides interesting and helpful commentary on texts unfamiliar to most readers and audiences. Pendleton's introduction offers perceptive discussion of the plays, their place in Shakespeare's canon, their significance in the Elizabethan period, and their critical fortunes over the centuries. The essays that follow examine the plays from a variety of perspectives, perhaps most interestingly in terms of performance, including Pendleton's own interview with a contemporary actor who performed recently in productions of these plays at the New York Shakespeare Festival. But there is also interesting coverage of filmed versions of the plays and of various critical issues surrounding these earliest of Shakespeare's works.

I don't understand why more people don't read Shakespeare's history plays because they are some of his best work, especially the Henry VI trilogy. Shakespeare's interpretation and manipulation of history drive this trilogy forward and create unique opportunities to judge his skill against the "facts." I loved this trilogy! Not only is it an expert study in human nature (which is Shakespeare's trademark), it is action-packed with never a boring moment. Read it!

In the preface to his "Life of Lincoln", William Herndon expounded that when writing the history of Lincoln's early life "the whole truth concerning him should be known" and there should be "nothing colored or suppressed." Having set the standard Herndon failed to follow it, for there were something's even Herndon must have felt should not be put into print. Scholars wishing to explore Lincoln's early life beyond the insights offered by Herndon's biography had to turn to examining the letters and notes collected for over a twenty year period by himself and his collaborator Jesse Weik. This often proved to be a daunting task. As the editor's in their introduction noted even though available on Micro roll film specific documents are "very hard to locate" and even if located are "very hard to read." To further complicate matters the index to the Herndon collection prepared by the Library of Congress is "neither accurate nor complete." What Editors Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis have done in their "Herndon's Informants" is to transcribe all of the known Herndon, Weik letters and notes into a readable and properly indexed Documentary Edition. What they have also done is create a masterpiece of scholarship that will be used by students of Lincoln for decades to come. "Herndon's Informants" offers the student the complete Herndon collection, unabridged and un-editorialized. To anyone who has a strong interest in learning more about Lincoln's early life this is just about all that is available and it simply must become a part of your personal library.

In this anthology, Chafe and Sitkoff have collected a number of articles that are critical in understanding the major issues in American history during the past 50 years. Despite the broad thematic scope of essays--ranging from post-war foreign policy to the creation of an "urban underclass" during the Reagan administration--the organization and careful editing of the book provide the reader with a clear understanding of America's recent sociopolitical transitions. The lucid and well-written individual essays, submitted by leading historians and well-known political figures, work particularly well alongside the documents and commentaries they are paired with.

This is an amazing story of high adventure, which took me completely by surprise, as it's written by an Anglican missionary. Collison's adventures among the Haidas and Tsimshians of British Columbia are exciting and fascinating. Unfortunately, the recent reprint edition of this book didn't include the Bible verses that headed each chapter of the original. I'm not a particularly religious person, but Collison chose verses that really help set the tone of the chapter.

I became a Christian in 1978. Though not a Catholic one of the first books I read after my conversion was Merton's Seeds of Contemplation. I don't claim to have understood it all at that time. As a new Christian I was just trying to learn. I didn't even have the slightest idea who Thomas Merton was, I just found the book in the community college library and started reading. In the intervening years I have gone through many changes and have read many Christian authors. I have come to the point where I am not so concerned with the denomination of the writer or whether or not he or she shares my particular background. What has become important to me is that if I can detect true reverence and submission to God in the writer's words then I will read and benefit. Though I am Protestant and, theologically speaking, Reformed in my thinking, I love Thomas Merton with all my heart.

A few months ago I listened to his autobiography The Seven Story Mountain on tapes. Before that I listened to The New Seeds of Contemplation. Merton stirred up things in me and gave a voice to private thoughts that, unfortunately, can hardly be expressed even in most churches. When I ran across this new book, The Inner Experience, I bought it immediately. I finished it in a couple of weeks, savoring it slowly. Merton is not bound by any lables, denominational or otherwise, yet he remains Christian. This does not make him an enemy of the non-Christian and he never comes off that way. He is wide ranging, yet Christian. In this new work Merton is like someone who pulls you to the side and fills you in on all the details that are really important but were left out of what we've been told is really important. He never hides weakness, never claims to have the definitive answer. He let's you know he's acting as more of a guide, as someone who is clearing mental debris so that you can get a better picture of not so much what he is telling you but what you can become by following God yourself if confusion is lessened. I found myself constantly underlining passages and putting the book down just to let cetain words sink into my thoughts. When I finished the book I knew I would have to read it again. I felt a tinge of sadness as if I was saying goodbye to a friend, but also joy that one who has been dead for over thirty years still spoke with such quiet strength. And isn't that precisely what Scripture says about those who were truly faithful, that they being dead yet speak?

I also found William Shannon's scholarship and guidance helpful. He relates to you the circumstances surrounding the writing of this book, which was actually a rewrite of an earlier work of Merton's (What is Contemplation?) that took on a new form and thrust. Mr. Shannon used different type fonts to let the reader know when the words were part of Merton's revision. These are cataloged neatly by chapter in the back of the book. Merton speaks to our time just as poignantly, maybe even more so, than he did to his own. There are certain people who are ready, indeed who hunger, for the words in this book. You will know who you are when you read it. As Merton says on page 3...

"But if in some sense you are already a contemplative (whether you know it or not makes little difference) you will perhaps not only read the book with a kind of obscure awareness that it is meant for you, but you may even find yourself having to read the thing whether it fits in with your plans or not. In that event just read it......and pray for me, because from now on we are, in some strange way, good friends."

Though Merton is gone I do feel that in some stange way we are good friends. And I feel a little saner in a mad world.