Thomas Hardy A to Z : The Essential Reference to His Life and Work

Alphabetically arranged entries offer information on Hardy's life and work, covering his novels, short stories, poetry, dramatic works, characters, significant events and people, and travels.

Hardy's place in the curriculum as well as the "Hardy industry," which extends even to films (one as recent as 2001) and musical adaptations, help keep interest in the great, prolific English novelist and poet alive. Here is almost all that a general reader of Hardy might want to know about Hardy or that a reference librarian might need to find out, including the name of his beloved terrier (Wessex). The more than 700 alphabetically arranged entries treat family and friends; provide chapter-by-chapter summaries and critiques of the novels (eight and one-half pages on Tess of the d'Urbervilles ); and discuss other creative writings, principal characters in the novels, interests and concerns reflected in miscellaneous writings, writers and poets whom Hardy knew or whose works had significance for him, aspects of the fine arts and the publishing field related to his writings and life, institutions and organizations, places and events, and honors and prizes. The appendixes include a topical list of entries, lists of media adaptations, a chronology of Hardy's writings, family trees, a glossary of place-names, a list of translations, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Other recent reference sources on Hardy include The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy (1999), which contains 12 scholarly essays; and the Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy (2000), which lacks separate entries for characters. Thomas Hardy A to Z is highly recommended for academic and large public libraries. RBB
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