This volume contains introductions and historical background to numerous well-known literary works.

This volume contains introductions and historical background to numerous Italian literary works.

This volume contains introductions and historical background to numerous ancient Greek and Roman literary works.

This volume contains introductions and historical background to numerous Spanish and Portuguese literary works.

This volume contains introductions and historical background to numerous Middle Eastern literary works.

An exploration of ethnic groups in Latin America, discussing culture, family structure, dress, nutrition, education, industry, religion, history, population, land, and climate.

Profiles fifty African literary works, including novels, short stories, biographies, speeches, poems, and plays, providing background on the time and place in which each work is set and in which it was produced. Also includes an extensive chronology of relevant events.

Contains profiles of three hundred notable literary works written from ancient times through the end of the twentieth century, relating them to the historical context in which they were written and in which they are set; arranged alphabetically by title within five historical periods.

Profiles fifty important literary works with settings from the Great Depression to the Harlem Renaissance, providing plot summaries; identifying the historic events of the time periods in which the works are set and during which they were written; and examining the ways the authors explored such events in their writing.