About the Author:
Julia Briggs was, until her death in 2007, Professor of English Literature at De Montfort University, UK. She was the author of many books, including Night Visitors: The Rise and Fall of the English Ghost Story (1977), This Stage-Play World: English Literature and Its Background, 1580-1625 (1983), A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit (1987) and Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life (2005). Dennis Butts taught children's literature at Reading University, UK. He has written widely about children's books, and edited many scholarly editions and critical studies including Stories and Society: Children's Literature in its Social Context (1992) and From the Dairyman's Daughter to Worrals of the WAAF: The Religious Tract Society (2006). M.O. Grenby is Reader in Children's Literature in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University, UK. He has published extensively on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cultural history and on children's literature. His books include The Anti-Jacobin Novel: British Conservatism and the French Revolution (2001) and the Edinburgh Critical Guide to Children's Literature (2008).
Review:
'Popular children's literature has shaped our culture for around 400 years, and this book - scholarly, accessible, and wide-ranging - does full justice to a vitally important and yet curiously elusive literary form. Written by world-class specialists, it could well become the standard work'. Peter Hunt, Cardiff University, UK '... cogent, helpful general introduction...A wide-ranging, richly informative treatment that does not limit or restrict the concept of 'popularity' in children's literature...Recommended.' Choice 'Historians of children's literature will welcome this book of essays, which reflects an expanded purview of scholars inside the discipline who look beyond the traditional boundaries of children's literature and suggests why scholars outside the discipline are beginning to find children's literature a rewarding primary source for social history.' Sharp News 'This book fulfils the expectations its range of distinguished contributors raises. It provides a lively and scholarly historical study that spans British children's literature from its beginning to Harry Potter, and is informative, challenging, and most enjoyable to read. ... the book amply rewards the careful reader with a greater breadth of analysis than popular children's literature in Britain has yet enjoyed.' The Library '... a fascinating addition to the study of popular children's fiction. It is entertaining, scholarly, and enlightening, and to be commended.' Children's Books History Society 'Ashgate have carved out an interesting niche for themselves in this specialized area and readers may wish to explore their online catalogue for items on early childhood, women and education, Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling. The book under review is destined for the academic library and for the scholarly shelf - there are specialists enough around the world. But above all, it is aimed at anyone who wants a good working list of critical and bibliographical works on early children's literature (some items are cited in the references here).' Library Review 'Popular Children's Literature in Britain is a valuable work of literary history that successfully charts the gradual emergence of a children's literature that reacts to and participates in wider cultural debates...' H-Education 'This is a book full of facts, and indeed it may be consulted for reference as much as for the pleasure of its individual essays... The authors are formidable experts in the field but they are also enthusiasts, with fascinating stories to tell. ... This splendid volume is a major contribution to the scholarship of children's literature...' Journal of Children's Literature Studies
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.