The Savoy Operas: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan

A treasury of all fourteen of the beloved Savoy Operas

Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas are some of the world's best-loved musical works, delighting audiences with their joyous wit and extravagant wordplay. From the triumphant comic romps The Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, and The Mikado to less frequently performed gems such as the partially lost work Thespis, all appear here in their most accurate and faithful form. Including fascinating new commentary on each work, performance histories, plot summaries, original cast lists, and illustrations from the original productions, this ultimate Gilbert and Sullivan collection will charm and satisfy new fans as well as devotees of these incomparable musical masterminds.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Playwright/lyricist William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur S. Sullivan (1842-1900) defined operetta or comic operas in Victorian England with a series of their internationally successful and timeless works known as the Savoy Operas.

Ed Glinert was born in Dalston, London, and read Classical Hebrew at Manchester University. In 1983 he set up City Life, Manchester's listings magazine, and he has since worked for Radio Times, Private Eye and Mojo. He is the co-author of Fodor's Rock & Roll Traveler USA and Fodor's Rock & Roll Traveler Great Britain and Ireland, and recently edited The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith, and annotated two volumes of Sherlock Holmes stories, all for Penguin Classics. 

The author of The Literary Guide to London, The London Compendium, East End Chronicles, and West End Chronicles, he writes a regular column for Time Out on the streets of London and leads a variety of walks for a major London walking tours company.

Mike Leigh has developed a unique method of creating films through controlled improvisations. After his debut Bleak Moments (1971) he made a succession of admired TV plays, including Abigail's Party and Nuts in May. He then returned to feature films: High Hopes (1988), Life is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993). Secrets and Lies won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1996. Topsy-Turvy (1999) won two Oscars.