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"Ken Rothwell does a splendid updating of Kittredge's Merchant of Venice with considerations of the play in performance. His essay on the play's stage history is lucid, his additions to Kittredge's notes are indicative of performance choices, and, as one would expect of the preeminent scholar of Shakespeare on film, his discussion of cinematic adaptations of Merchant is richly informative. This edition should prove useful to all levels of undergraduates."
     —James Bulman, Allegheny College

This is a handy pocket reference of morphological forms for Classical Greek and places the parts of speech in charts/tables for quick reference. This is designed to serve as a source for drill and memorization for students learning Greek. Coil binding makes it possible to lay the book flat or fold it back for easier reading.

"His introductory commentary on book II of the Aeneid, designed for students starting from an intermediate knowledge of Latin, offers the essential tools for a full understanding, correct translation, and appropriate interpretation of Vergil’s text."
     —Beatrice Larosa, Università della Calabria, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"1,000 Jahre Deutsche Literatur does a marvelous job of presenting literary texts within their cultural contexts, including an excellent overview of the history of the German Language from Germanic times to the Enlightenment. Professor Clay's writing style is lively and accessible. The accompanying pedagogical exercises reinforce learning of the material, while also affording opportunities for independent thinking and reflection. This newly-revised edition should be a favorite for students and teachers alike."
   –Dennis Mahoney, University of Vermont

A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, Book 2, the revised version by Leslie Edwards for Focus Publishing. This text provides an introduction to Greek language as found in the Greek of Homer using Odyssey books 6 and 12. 

"This splendid edition furnishes readers, students, and theater people alike with a marvelous set of tools for appreciating the many facets of Shakespeare's play: a freshly edited text from the authoritative 1599 quarto, trenchant explanatory notes, and–best of all–insightful performance notes detailing the various ways in which individual passages have been interpreted in important films and stage productions."
     —Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada, Reno and co-editor of the RSC Shakespeare edition

Updated and expanded from one of the most popular grammar sites on the web, this book provides a modern guide to English usage for the 21st century. With topics arranged alphabetically and written in an enjoyable and readable tone, The English Language: A User's Guide will help students and writers understand the nature of the language, explaining the "why" of the rules as well as what constitutes good grammar and style. Going beyond the prescriptive wrong /right examples, Jack Lynch includes examples of weak/strong, good/better, disputed/preferred, and informal/formal usage.

This Focus Philosophical Library edition includes a new translation of Descartes' seminal discourse, with an original essay by Richard Kennington. This text is designed to provide the student with a close translation, notes, and a glossary of key terms, facilitating access to ideas as they originally were presented and helping to make the translator's work transparent. 

his will be a splendid and useful book for teachers of courses focusing on the nineteenth century who have been frustrated at the lack of accessible sources in English. . . . the selection of texts is as near to impeccable as possible in trying to capture Latin American thinking between Bolívar in 1819 and Arguedas in 1909. . . . this is a worthy collection of primary sources, and it will certainly be of use in bringing neglected texts and authors to the audience of students who have no Spanish."
     —Matthew Brown, University of Bristol

This new volume of three of Euripides' most celebrated plays offers graceful, economical, metrical translations that convey the wide range of effects of the playwright's verse, from the idiomatic speech of its dialogue to the high formality of its choral odes.

"Many scholars translate the works of Euripides as they should be, but Diane Arnson Svarlien translates them as they are. . . . Arnson Svarlien shows admirable modesty and restraint in avoiding . . . pitfalls, and makes choices that reveal the meaning of the text she is translating with the least imposition of her own personality.  The ambiguity of Euripides is transmitted to us but not imposed on us by [her] translation. . . . The translations are both readable and playable." —Edmond Chibeau, New England Theatre Journal 

This meticulously edited anthology provides a comprehensive, problems-oriented entrée to philosophy.  Substantial readings from major classical and contemporary thinkers—featuring many of Hackett's widely acclaimed translations—are supported by a general introduction, engaging introductions to each major topic, and a glossary of important philosophical terms. (North American rights only)

Book Six and the incomplete Book Seven of The Faerie Queene are the last sections of the unfinished poem to have been published.  They show Spenser inflecting his narrative with an ever more personal note, and becoming an ever more desperate and anxious author, worried that things were falling apart as Queen Elizabeth failed in health and the Irish crisis became ever more terrifying.  The moral confusion and uncertainty that Calidore, the Knight of Courtesy, has to confront are symptomatic of the lack of control that Spenser saw everywhere around him.  Yet, within such a troubling and disturbing work there are moments of great beauty and harmony, such as the famous dance of the Graces that Colin Clout, the rustic alter ego of the poet himself, conjures up with his pipe.  Book Seven, the "Two Cantos of Mutabilitie," is among the finest of Spenser's poetic works, in which he explains the mythical origins of his world, as the gods debate on the hill opposite his Irish house.  Whether order or chaos triumphs in the end has been the subject of most subsequent critical debate.

"Although an audience of enamored nonspecialists embraced Heaney's version . . . other scholars gave only grudging respect to the poet whose 'Heaneywulf' often seemed to represent an Anglo-Saxon world re-created in the Irish poet's own image. Since 2002, new and revised translations have come and gone, none attracting as much attention as Heaney's. That should change with Ringler's new translation, and not just because scholars such as Tom Shippey, Frederick Rebsamen, and John Niles vouch for it. The proof is in the reading, whether one does so silently or aloud. In his comprehensive, insightful introduction and rhythmic replication of Old English poetry, Ringler offers the specialist what Heaney did not; this is a performative translation that re-creates the world of Beowulf as accurately as may be possible. Accessible and exciting for specialists and nonspecialists alike, this is the edition professors should be using to introduce the venerable poem to a new audience. Summing up: Essential." 
—A.P. Church, CHOICE

C.A.E. Luschnig's An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach prepares students to read Greek in less than a year by presenting basic traditional grammar without frills and by introducing real Greek written by ancient Greeks, from the first day of study. The second edition retains all the features of the first but is more streamlined, easier on the eyes, more gender-inclusive, and altogether more 21st century. 

Companion Website: http://worldwidegreek.com/. Please note that the audio files originally found on the companion website are now available for free here on Soundcloud. Instructor resources: PDF-only answer keys to the even-numbered exercises are also available by request. If you are a course instructor please use this form to request the answer keys.

Though better known today as a political theorist than as a dramatist, Machiavelli secured his fame as a giant in the history of Italian comedy more than fifty years before Shakespeare's comedies delighted English-speaking audiences.  This bilingual edition includes all three examples of Machiavelli's comedic art: sparkling translations of his farcical masterpiece, The Mandrake; of his version of Terence's The Woman From Andros; and of his Plautus-inspired Clizia—works whose genre afforded Machiavelli a unique vehicle not only for entertaining audiences but for examining virtù amid the twists and turns of fortuna.

This generous abridgment of Stanley Lombardo’s translation of the Odyssey offers more than half of the epic, including all of its best-known episodes and finest poetry, while providing concise summaries for omitted books and passages. Sheila Murnaghan’s Introduction, a shortened version of her essay for the unabridged edition, is ideal for readers new to this remarkable tale of the homecoming of Odysseus.

“One of the best short introductions to Hegel’s logic I know. It gives a comprehensive survey that is easy to understand.”
     —Michael Wolff, Universitat Bielefeld

Meineck and Woodruff's new annotated translations of Sophocles' Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, and Philoctetes combine the same standards of accuracy, concision, clarity, and powerful speech that have so often made their Theban Plays a source of epiphany in the classroom and of understanding in the theatre.  Woodruff's Introduction offers a brisk and stimulating discussion of central themes in Sophoclean drama, the life of the playwright, staging issues, and each of the four featured plays.

"This is easily the best English translation of The Golden Ass. I find that undergraduates with little or no knowledge of classical literature or the Greco-Roman world can readily read and enjoy it—as accessible as Graves or Ruden, but much more true to Apuleius's text and sensibility. Relihan's introduction is a great distillation of scholarly commentary—superb in all aspects." —Robin Walz, University of Alaska Southeast

"Relihan is an American Euphues. I like everything about this edition from the title page to the index. The translation is magnificent." —Stanley Lombardo, University of Kansas

"Seventy years after their publication, George Lyman Kittredge's editions of Shakespeare remain exceptional for the combination of learning, acuity, wit, and clarity he brings to his notes on the plays. Annalisa Castaldo makes Kittredge's Macbeth even more useful for modern readers by skillfully streamlining Kittredge's annotations and adding helpful analyses of the play and its film productions. There is no better edition of Shakespeare for students, beginning or advanced."
     —Dr. James Wells

This Focus student edition of Candide has been designed to help students approach the original French text through an introductory essay, vocabulary and cultural notes, activities and study questions. All material is in French, and complete in one volume.

A workbook for Roma Aeterna (the main book of Pars II of the Lingua Latina per se illustrata series) with an extensive collection of exercises.

"The New Kittredge Series is both a delight and a steal. Kittredge's textual authority, updated by eminent scholars sensitive to classroom needs and alert to staging choices, is once again available in these slim, elegant, inexpensive, user-friendly volumes. With lucid notes and incisive introductions geared especially to popular film versions, the series also offers an overview of both stage and film performances of each play. A must for any Shakespeare class."
     —Laury Magnus

"The New Kittredge Series is both a delight and a steal. Kittredge's textual authority, updated by eminent scholars sensitive to classroom needs and alert to staging choices, is once again available in these slim, elegant, inexpensive, user-friendly volumes. With lucid notes and incisive introductions geared especially to popular film versions, the series also offers an overview of both stage and film performances of each play. A must for any Shakespeare class."
     —Laury Magnus

The most comprehensive compilation of the works of Abelard and Heloise ever presented in a single volume in English, The Letters and Other Writings features an accurate and stylistically faithful new translation of both The Calamities of Peter Abelard and the remarkable letters it sparked between the ill-fated twelfth-century philosopher and his brilliant former student and lover—an exchange whose intellectual passion, formal virtuosity, and psychological drama distinguish it as one of the most extraordinary correspondences in European history. Thanks to this edition, Latin-less readers will be better placed than ever to see why this undisputed milestone in the intellectual life of medieval France is also a masterpiece of Western literature.

From James I's "Address Before Parliament" (1610) to Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s "Learned Hand Dinner Address Before the American Jewish Committee" (2005), this two-volume set offers an unparalleled selection of key texts from the history of American political and constitutional thought. North American rights only.

Download the TOC (PDF) for volume 1.

Download the TOC (PDF) for volume 2.

In this engaging volume, Daniel Gardner explains the way in which the Four Books—Great Learning, Analects, Mencius, and Maintaining Perfect Balance—have been read and understood by the Chinese since the twelfth century.  Selected passages in translation are accompanied by Gardner's comments, which incorporate selections from the commentary and interpretation of the renowned Neo-Confucian thinker, Zhu Xi (1130-1200).

"To refer to this volume as just a translation is misleading, because Smith and Trzaskoma have provided much more, most notably the best short introduction to ancient mythography—and these particular authors—available in English. . . . The translations themselves are clear and accurate.  [An] admirable volume.  Smith and Trzaskoma are to be commended."
     —Kris Fletcher, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This book will make a major impact on the study, and especially the teaching, of Arabic philosophy.  A major difficulty with this field has been the lack of any adequate textbook of sources. . . . Reisman and McGinnis not only provide here a rich selection of texts that could be the basis for even a full-year course on Arabic thought, but also manage to translate several important works for the first time; they also include some standards that would probably be missed were they not here.  It will no doubt become the standard anthology used in courses on Arabic philosophy, and I will use it this way myself.  The team of McGinnis and Reisman is an ideal one. . . All in all, this project is to be greeted with immense enthusiasm."
—Peter Adamson, King's College London

Offering the first complete translation into modern English of Aquinas’ unfinished commentary on Aristotle’s Politics, this translation follows the definitive Leonine text of Aquinas and reproduces in English those passages of William of Moerbeke’s exacting yet elliptical translation of the Politics from which Aquinas worked.  Bekker numbers have been added to passages from the Politics for easy reference. Students of the history of political thought will welcome this study of a great classic, a commentary by a student of Aristotle who is also a great political theorist in his own right.

Volume 1 of a 2-volume set. Volume 1 covers origins through the Civil War. Volume 2 covers reconstruction to the present. Together the two-volume set offers an unparalleled selection of key texts from the history of American political and constitutional thought. North American rights only.

Download the TOC (PDF) of volume I.

“This fluid new translation, with abundant explanatory notes and an insightful Introduction to Voltaire’s literary strategies, will make an excellent edition for students, as well as a useful resource for scholars.”
     —Ann Blair, Harvard University

Set in Ireland prior to its achieving legislative independence from Britain in 1782, Castle Rackrent tells the story of three generations of an estate-owning family as seen through the eyes—and as told in the voice—of their longtime servant, Thady Quirk, recorded and commented on by an anonymous Editor.  This edition of Maria Edgeworth’s first novel is based on the 1832 edition, the last revised by her, and includes Susan Kubica Howard’s foot-of-the-page notes on the text of the memoir as well as on the notes and glosses the Editor offers "for the information of the ignorant English reader."  Howard’s Introduction situates the novel in its political and historical context and suggests a reading of the novel as Edgeworth’s contribution to the discussion of the controversial Act of Union between Ireland and Britain that went into effect immediately after the novel’s publication in London in 1800.

Includes updated sections on the Indo-European language family and on Latin meter, addition of a brief bibliography, and a reorganized index of sources. Suitable for intermediate-level students.

This rich and lively anthology offers a broad selection of Middle English poetry from about 1200 to 1500 C.E., including more than 150 secular and religious lyrics and nine complete or extracted longer works, all translated into Modern English verse that closely resembles the original forms.  Five complete satires and narratives illustrate important conventions of the period: Athelston, a historical romance; The Cock and the Fox, a beast fable by Robert Henryson; Sir Orfeo, a Breton lai; Saint Erkenwald, an alliterative saint's life; and The Land of Cockayne, a fantasy. The book concludes with substantial excerpts from longer narratives such as Piers Plowman and Confessio Amantis.

Latin-English Vocabulary II includes complete vocabulary lists for each chapter in Roma Aeterna (Lingua Latina Pars II). The complete Latin–English Vocabulary II text is also included in A Companion to Roma Aeterna.

"Joe Sachs, known and respected for his excellent translations of Aristotle, deserves great praise for this new translation of Plato's Republic. Based on the latest definitive edition of the Greek text and guided by a sense that Greek in English need not read like an old, foreign tongue, Sachs' translation captures the flow of the conversation in an English that reads smoothly, even when the ideas expressed force one to pause and look again. Fluid, yet accurate, Sachs' translation allows the thoughtful reader deeper entry into this all-important book. The editorial guides and typographical signs to remind the reader of who has joined the argument most recently are all highly helpful and most welcome. I look forward to reading this with students." —Charles E. Butterworth, University of Maryland

"A genuine understanding of Hume's extraordinarily rich, important, and influential moral philosophy requires familiarity with all of his writings on vice and virtue, the passions, the will, and even judgments of beauty—and that means familiarity not only with large portions of A Treatise of Human Nature, but also with An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals and many of his essays as well.  This volume is the one truly comprehensive collection of Hume's work on all of these topics.  Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, a leading moral philosopher and Hume scholar, has done a meticulous job of editing the texts and has provided an extensive Introduction that is at once accessible, accurate, and philosophically engaging, revealing the deep structure of Hume's moral philosophy."
     —Don Garrett, New York University

A new edition of a classic anthology, published in five convenient and inexpensive volumes, updated for the modern student. Selections in French, with introductory material and notes in English. Includes time lines, introductions to each period and its culture, and short biographies of the authors.

"Stephens's introduction to books 3 and 4 [offers] a guide to approaching the poem's grammar and syntax, meter, and significant theme's as well as a list of possible questions for discussion based on issues addressed in recent criticism. . . . Stephens addresses the nature and content of Spenser's poem from a modern perspective backward, rather than from a medieval or early modern perspective forward—an orientation that may be more comfortable for less sophisticated readership and which helps to ground The Faerie Queene in a broader literary tradition."
     —Rachel E. Frier, Sixteenth Century Journal

Grammatica Latina is a Latin morphology to be used with Lingua Latina: Part I: Familia Romana. It includes tables of paradigms and forms corresponding to the Familia Romana course material. Note: This text is included in the title, Lingua Latina: A Companion to Familia Romana (Second Edition). If you have purchased that text, you do not need to purchase this separately, as it is included in the back of the book.

A delightful collection of straightforward prose narratives, divided into 100-word sections. These stories are suitable for intermediate-level Greek students who have seen all or most of the grammar. Vocabulary and appendix of proper names. Because Morice chose characters and incidents from history and mythology, these stories also serve to introduce Ancient Greek culture.

"The New Kittredge Series is both a delight and a steal. Kittredge's textual authority, updated by eminent scholars sensitive to classroom needs and alert to staging choices, is once again available in these slim, elegant, inexpensive, user-friendly volumes. With lucid notes and incisive introductions geared especially to popular film versions, the series also offers an overview of both stage and film performances of each play. A must for any Shakespeare class."
     —Dr. Laury Magnus

A masterful example of the psychological novel in French literature, this edition has been designed to help the English-speaking student approach the original French through the use of a thorough and informative introduction, ample and informative notes and study questions, all of which are contained in one convenient volume. Pierre et Jean is a naturalist work written by Guy de Maupassant in 1887. It tells the story of a middle-class French family whose lives are changed when a deceased family friend, leaves his inheritance to Jean. This provokes Pierre to doubt the fidelity of his mother and the legitimacy of his brother. The Focus Student Editions are appropriate as introductory texts for French language courses in literature and culture. 

"Tom Simone's translation is simply superb. Of all the translations with which I am familiar, this is the one that is the most faithful to what's there in the Italian: no frills, no poetic sallies, no choosing a word because it brings the line closer to iambic pentameter—just unadulterated Dante with good old Anglo-Saxon words and in highly readable prose."
    —Peter Kalkavage, St. John's University

French Cinema: A Student's Book is an introduction to French cinema, in English. This text includes the history of the origins of French film, an explanation of how to analyze a film, a lexicon of French cinema terms, and an analysis of 17 major masterpieces of French filmmaking. A parallel French version of this text, Apprentissage du cinema francais, is also available, so the same course can be taught to students of French culture as well as students of French language.

Additional Resources: French Cinema companion website.

"Catherine Julien's translation is remarkable for two reasons.  Aside from its dual language presentation, it is one of a handful of historical narratives authored by native Andeans during the Spanish colonial period, and is a faithful translation of Titu Cusi Yupanqui's sixteenth-century history. . . . This invaluable source book features extensive annotations, facing page Spanish-English text, and an important introduction that explains the historical perspectives revolving around Titu Cusi's History.  This work is highly recommended for classroom use."
     —Colonial Latin American Historical Review

"Kukla and Walmsley state in their preface that they intend this volume as 'an introduction to the science of psychology for the nonspecialist who isn't afraid to do a little thinking.'  This goal is admirably achieved.  The authors present viewpoints about the mind held in the various schools of psychological thought.  The summary of each major perspective focuses on the central tenets of each model as they relate to the discipline as a whole. . . . [T]he authors' presentation of these sometimes-thorny, often-difficult constructs is clear. . . . This book offers not only a history of the most important contributions of the field but also an understanding of where psychology is at present.  The conclusion is simple but profound.  After more than a century of exploration, 'the mind is still a mystery.'  Summing up: Highly recommended."
     —D. M. Chirico, CHOICE

A subtle and distinguished work by a philosopher renowned for his groundbreaking analysis of human emotions, About Love is an engaging study of the phenomenon of modern romantic love. With humor, verve, and wisdom, Robert Solomon reveals the underpinnings and ironies of this most exhilarating and excruciating of human experiences.

"A first-rate piece of work, very useful both for undergraduate and graduate students.  Also of real interest for non-scholars, non-students, and people interested in Jesuits in general.  The introductions are especially valuable in situating the readings in context.  The Illustrations are well-chosen."
     —John W. Padberg, S. J., Director, The Institute of Jesuit Studies