Joseph Michael Sommers

Salem Press

The popular American comic book is considered in this volume of Critical Insights. From their creation in the 1930s to the widespread popularity of comic book heroes today, this literary form continues to delight and entertain readers. This volume offers

The American Comic Book

This work features 140 chronologically arranged overviews of the history of weaponry and military tactics from ancient times to the present global age. Originally published in 2002, ""Weapons and Warfare"" is designed to meet the needs of students seeking information about weaponry, tactics, and models of warfare from ancient times to the present, worldwide. Written with the needs of students and general readers in mind, the articles contained in this set present clear discussions of the topics, explaining any terms or references that may be unclear. The focus on the technical and strategic development of weapons and tactics, more than on a narrative chronological history of events, allows students of history, political science, science and technology alike to gain a broad understanding of the technological and strategic advances made over time and geography. The new third volume adds the essential dimension of placing these topics in broad social, cultural, and ethical contexts. Approximately 140 topics arranged chronologically and thematically, with volume 1, ""Ancient and Medieval"", covering weapons and strategies from ancient times to 1500; volume 2, ""The Modern Era"", covering weapons and strategies from approximately 1500 to the present; and, volume 3, ""Warfare: Cultural and Concepts"" providing valuable overviews of the way warfare, weapons, and military history have been expressed socially, politically, and in the arts. Each essay ranges from 1,500 words to 7,000 words. The first two volumes open with overviews of major weapons groups (for example, in volume 1 'Clubs, Maces, and Slings', 'Sieges and Siegecraft'; in volume 2, 'Swords, Daggers, and Bayonets', 'Rockets, Missiles, and Nuclear Weapons'), followed by chronologically arranged sections covering major historical periods and regions of the world and their contributions to military weapons, technologies, and strategies. Volume three touches on all sociocultural and political aspects of culture, society, science, ethics, and basic 'behind the battlefield' theories, strategies, and policies. The essays in this set are organized into three essay types: Weapons overview articles are organized with sections on 'Nature and Use' and 'Development' of each weapons type. The geographically arranged warfare articles feature sections on 'Political Considerations' where relevant, and on 'Military Achievement', 'Weapons, Uniforms, and Armor', 'Military Organization', 'Doctrine, Strategy, and Tactics'. Warfare articles also feature a section on the primary sources from which historians base their observations and evaluates the best sources for understanding the warfare of the period. Culture/concept overviews (new) approach warfare and weaponry from several different perspectives: sociological, geographical, cultural, ritual, political, ethical, religious, tactical, and strategic.

Weapons & Warfare

This updated eight-volume set contains essays that cover the 20th century's most important events. With its articles arranged in chronological order, this new edition covers a wide variety of events from national and world politics, wars, civil disturbances, disasters, crimes, business, scientific and medical discoveries and breakthroughs,and other fields. The set's new articles extend the coverage through September 2001 and include stories such as the massacre of the Nepalese royal family by its own crown prince; and the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 and their aftermath. The top matter offers a summary description ofthe event and defines its significance in a brief sentence. Following that description is a list of the ""what"", ""when"", and ""where"", ""who"" of the event,providing readers with the data on the first page of the article. The text of each 1000 word article is divided into three subsections, the first and second of which detailthe event itself and the background to it,and the last of which, ""Consequences"", identifies both the short-range consequences and the projected long-range impact of the event. The chronological arrangement of the articles not only serves as timeline but also casts light on the social, political,and economic evolution of the world from a collectopn of individual nations to a global community, in which developments in one regions have repercussions inothers.

1900-2001

Great Events

Magill's Literary Annual, 2003, is the fiftieth publication in a series that began in 1954. The philosophy behind the annual has been to evaluate critically 200 major examples of serious literature published during the previous year. Our focus is to provide coverage for works that are likely to be of particular interest to the general reader, that reflect the publishing trends of a given year, that add to careers of authors being taught and researched in literature programs, and that will stand the test of time. By filtering the thousands of books published each year down to two hundred notable titles, the editors have provided the busy librarian with an excellent reader's advisory tool and patrons with fodder for book discussion groups and a guide for selection. The essay-reviews in the Annual also provide a more academic, ""reference"" review of a work than is typically found in newspapers and other periodical sources. This year's works are drawn from such categories as anthropology, autobiography, biography, current affairs, diaries, economics, environment, essays, history, language, literary criticism, medicine, memoirs, nature, philosophy, poetry, psychology, religion, science, short fiction, sociology, technology, travel, and women's issues. The articles are arranged alphabetically by book title. A complete list of included titles can be found at the beginning of volume 1. Each 2,000-word article begins with a block of top matter that indicates the title, author, publisher, and price of the work. When possible, the year of the author's birth is also provided. The top matter also includes the number of pages of the book, the type of work, and, when appropriate, the time period and locale represented in the text. Next comes a capsule description of the work. When pertinent, a list of principal characters or personages, with brief descriptions, introduces the review. These original essay-reviews analyze intent and relative success of the author and the work under discussion. To assist the reader further, the articles are supplemented by a list of additional reviews for further study. Every essay includes a brief biography of the author or authors, and thumbnail photographs of the book covers and authors are included as available. At the end of volume 2 are four cumulative indexes listing works covered from the years 1977 to 2003: an index of Biographical Works by Subject, a Category Index, a Title Index, and an Author Index. The index of Biographical Works by Subject is arranged by subject rather than by author or title.

Books of 2002

Magill's Literary Annual 2003

Novels into film offers a unique look at how a story makes its way from the printed page to the screen.

Novels Into Film: Adaptations and Interpretation (Volume Two)

Provides an introduction to J.D. Salinger and the critical discussions surrounding his work.

Critical Insights: J. D. Salinger

Frank Northen Magill

Notable Poets comprises biographical sketches and critical studies of 110 of the world's best-known poets from antiquity to the late twentieth century. This set is designed to survey the essential poets whose works comprise the core curriculum of high school and undergraduate poetry studies.

Notable Poets

Robert C. Evans

A Tale of Two Cities has long been valued as one of Charles Dickens's most important and fascinating novels. This volume explores the novel from various deliberately diverse perspectives, setting it in historical, critical, and aesthetic contexts and examining how its impact has been kept alive to the present day.

Critical Insights: a Tale of Two Cities

Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, a late work in this important writer's long career, has often been examined not only in relation to his previous works but also as a new departure. This volume offers a wide range of approaches to the text, exploring it in terms of history, psychology, sociology, and artistic achievement.

Critical Insights: the Old Man and the Sea

Surveys approximately 125 major U.S. Latino writers and world Spanish-language writers translated into English who have contributed to the rich heritage of Latino and Hispanic literature.

Notable Latino Writers

Stephen Weiner

Bart Beaty

Independents and Underground Classics. A.D.: New Orleans after the deluge - Houdini: The handcuff king. Vol. 1

Critical Survey of Graphic Novels

Sarah J. Greenwald

Jill E. Thomley

The essays discuss the various mathematics involved in engineering, technology and medicine. Topics include bridge design, city planning, roller coasters and video games.

Engineering, Technology and Medicine

Explores the ways in which civil rights have been given, cemented, overturned, or left unrecognised, from the first uprisings to the present day. This two volume work contains more than 350 in-depth essays that analyse the events that have shaped American attitudes from the start of the civil rights movement into the new millennium.

The Civil Rights Movement

All the essays in this set have been selected from the popular Salem titles, Great Lives from History: The 18th Century, Great Lives from History: The 19th Century, and the upcoming Great Lives from History: The 20th Century. Each essay has been fully revised and updated for this brand-new, three-volume set. Each comprehensive, in-depth essay is approximately 5 to 6 pages in length.

American Heroes

Provides an in-depth critical analysis of the sonnet's historical significance, literary technique and discusses its meaning to a contemporary audience.

Critical Survey of Shakespeare's Sonnets

Carl Rollyson

Specific subject selections from the Critical Survey of Long Fiction create 24 single-volume trade paperbacks. Titles include Feminist Novelists, Gothic Novelists, Science Fiction Novelists, plus Asian, Greek, French, German, Latin, Russian, Italian and Jewsh Novelists.

Psychological Novelists

Mammalian social systems--Zoos. Appendices and indexes.

Ecology Basics

Highlighting the importance of fashion and design and its impact on social and cultural norms and trends over the hundred years, this brand-new volume in the Innovators series profiles the most innovative and important individuals in fashion history. Innovators in Fashion spans two complete volumes, examining nearly 200 individuals and personalities who had an influential impact on the fashion industry.

Fashion Innovators

Shakespeare's most loved comedy, this intricately structured drama employs a rich range of poetry and prose to juxtapose fairies and mortals, fantasy and reality, reason and madness. This volume offers new perspectives on its complex form, rich language, key themes and reinterpretations in light of twenty-first-century concerns with gender, harassment, social division and trauma.

Critical Insights: a Midsummer Night's Dream

This brand-new second edition of Recommended Reading: 500 Classics Reviewed?the first since 1995?covers 500 noteworthy works that have endured the test of time and continue to hold the interest of general readers and literary specialists, year after year.

Salem Press

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