An introduction to Collins Cassics
The Finest Classic Literature From Around The World

 Perfect for avid readers and cost-conscious students, the highly collectible Collins Classics features striking black and white covers, and lets you build your own classics library.

 Overseen by our expert editorial team, these editions are specifically typeset for the Collins Classics series, guaranteeing an accurate text and an enjoyable reading experience.

 Each title includes a Life and Times section, providing an insight into the author’s work, their life and the era in which they lived, plus a useful glossary of words and phrases, taken from our Collins English Dictionary, which gives precise definitions in the context of which they were written.

 From Ancient Greece to the early 20th Century, from plays to poetry, novels to non-fiction, short stories to epic sagas, the Collins Classics series will enthral and educate you with the world’s best-loved literature.

Series: Macmillan Readers
Publisher: Macmillan Education
Language: British English

Graded readers for learners at all levels

   Our carefully graded series of retold versions of popular classic and contemporary titles and specially written stories continues to grow and there are now over 170 titles in the series. Most titles are available with Audio CDs and most include accompanying exercises and glossaries.

Macmillan Readers have put together an interactive level test so you can check that you are reading the books most suited to your language level.

You will be asked to complete a range of vocabulary and grammar-based questions that have been graded from Starter to Upper Intermediate level.

After each series of question you will be advised what level you’re at, and when you get your final result you’ll be able to browse the graded readers that are suitable to your level.

Series: Macmillan Young Readers
Publisher: Macmillan Education
Language: British English

Macmillan English Explorers

   Macmillan English Explorers is an exciting new reading programme developed specifically for children learning English in kindergartens and primary schools. Written with second language learners in mind, these books expose children to real language and develop their reading and vocabulary skills. 

Key features
Stories have been written using high-frequency words, plus story-specific words which as far as possible are clarified by illustrations 
High-frequency words have been taken from the UK National Literacy Strategy and correlated with the Ladybird Key Words list and the words most commonly used by L1 children in their own writing 
Phonetically-regular words are included where they can be used in a meaningful and contextualized way, but not to the detriment of the storyline 
There are eight levels in the Macmillan English Explorers series, each consisting of several genres, including traditional tales, contemporary real-life stories, and comic characters. 
Each Reader contains one complete story, and some of the characters reappear at higher levels, providing a sense of continuity and familiarity to the children. 

Support materials
Comprehension Books at each level include activities for vocabulary building, as well as development of wider reading strategies 
Teacher's Books contain copies of the Readers pages plus expanded teaching notes 
Phonics Books, teaching the fundamentals of the phonemic system, accompany the first four levels of the series 
An Audio Cassette at each level contains dramatized readings of the stories.

Series: Macmillan Young Readers
Publisher: Macmillan Education
Language: British English

Macmillan English Explorers Phonic Reading Series

  In the UK, teaching phonics is recognised educationally as an essential part of the teaching of reading and writing. Teachers in international schools and throughout the rest of the world have shown great interest in using more phonic-based resources to help teach reading and pronunciation skills. The Macmillan English Explorers Phonics Reading Series complements the first four levels of the existing Explorers Reading Scheme in a way that will teach children how to sound out words and blend sounds to read words and to segment the sounds in the words in order to accurately spell them.

Each book in the new Phonics Reading Series has a strong, identifiable phonic focus. The series follows the scope and sequence of phonic skills taught in the existing Explorers phonic workbooks.

Many of the phonically regular words found at each level in the existing Explorers reading books and the Explorers phonic workbooks, are re-used in the Phonic Reading Series books and listed at the back of each book. Specific phonic vocabulary is also listed at the back of each book.

Through this series, children will be taught how to sound out and blend sounds to read words and to segment the sounds in the words in order to accurately spell them.

KEY FEATURES:
• Systematic, clearly defined and structured book by book progression of phonics teaching that is in line with the existing Phonic Workbooks from the Macmillan English Explorers series.
• The phonic focus is set within the context of a story to ensure that reading for meaning is retained.
• Popular and familiar characters from the Macmillan Explorers series can be found, along with the introduction of new contexts and characters.
• Detailed Teacher's notes show how to focus on letters and sounds to support pronunciation, reading and spelling.
• Full Teacher's Notes and Assessment Packs are available on the website: www.macmillanenglish.com/younglearners.

Series: I Wonder Why Series
Publisher: Macmillan Education
Language: British English

   This highly popular and long-running series explores the questions that young readers ask about the world around them in an unrivalled child-friendly style. The conversational format is perfect for delivering solid information in a natural, amusing and imaginative way.  

Series: Penguin Graded Readers
Publisher: Pearson ELT
Language: British English

   Penguin Readers are written by specialist ELT authors. The language, vocabulary, style and content of every book is carefully graded to make sure it suits the learner's own language ability.

Every Penguin Reader has a range of activities in the book and accompanying Factsheet to help increase comprehension and develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

Series: Penguin Kids
Publisher: Pearson ELT
Language: British English

 Penguin Kids are available in 6 levels (Pre-A1/Starter to A1++/High Beginner). The series has a rigorously applied system of grammar, vocabulary and structures. All titles are written 'to level' and 'to age'. 

MP3 audio and teachers notes for each title including extra activities for class available from: http://www.pearsonlongman.com/penguinkids/penguin-kids-audio.html

Series: Penguin Kids - CLIL Readers
Publisher: Pearson ELT
Language: British English

Penguin Kids are available in 6 levels (Pre-A1/Starter to A1++/High Beginner). The series has a rigorously applied system of grammar, vocabulary and structures. All titles are written 'to level' and 'to age'. 

MP3 audio and teachers notes for each title including extra activities for class available from: http://www.pearsonlongman.com/penguinkids/penguin-kids-audio.html

This is an illustrated history of Britain from prehistoric times to the present day. Moreover, the book analyzes the major political and military events in British history, and where appropriate, looks at these within a wider, international context. It also describes everyday life for men and women from different levels of society in different ages: the kind of work they did, family life, etc. Emphasis is also placed on cultural, intellectual, scientific and economic developments. An absorbing overview of major events in England, Scotland and Wales, tracing the development of the nation from prehistoric times to the present day. Explores Britain's economic, social and political developments and how these affected everyday lives at different sections of society.

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Carole Maddern
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

The York Notes Companion to Medieval Literature spans five centuries of literature written after the Norman Conquest, a time in which enormous social, political and linguistic change transformed life in Britain. Introducing medieval genres such as Arthurian romance, lyrics, dream narratives and mystery plays in their social and historical contexts, the Companion explores examples from each genre in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of medieval literature.

About the author: Carole Maddern is a Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she is Convenor of Old English and Deputy Chair of the External Degree English Programme. 

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Sue Chaplin
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

  The York Notes Companion to Gothic Literature explores the genre from its origins in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, through Romantic and Victorian Gothic to modernist and postmodernist re-imaginings of the form, analysing key debates such as Female Gothic and the Gothic narrator. Examining classic works, including The Mysteries of Udolpho and Frankenstein, alongside literature much newer to the canon, the Companion offers close analysis of texts, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of Gothic literature.

About the author: Sue Chaplin is a Senior Lecturer in English, and Course Leader for the BA in English and History at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: June Waudby
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

The York Notes Companion to Renaissance Poetry and Prose examines the best-known writers and poets of the age – Shakespeare, Milton, Spencer and Donne – alongside writers much newer to the canon, such as Mary Sidney, Anne Locke and Aemilia Lanyer. Illuminating key cultural issues in the Renaissance world including religion, exploration and gender, the Companion offers close analysis of texts, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of Renaissance literature.

About the author: June Waudby is a Lecturer with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Hull. 

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Hugh Mackay
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

  The York Notes Companion to Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama brings widely studied plays such as Hamlet, Othello and Dr Faustus to life for students, by considering them from the perspective of contemporary theatre-goers. Placing Shakespeare’s masterpieces in the social and historical contexts of the period and examining them alongside the work of his lesser known contemporaries, the Companion provides detailed commentaries on a range of plays, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their scholarly and historical contexts, this is essential reading for any student of Renaissance drama.

About the author: Hugh Mackay has a PhD in early Jacobean drama from the University of Southampton, where he has taught on a range of undergraduate courses. 

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: John Gilroy
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

The York Notes Companion to Romantic Literature is a comprehensive introduction to the literature of an era steeped in the politics of revolution and reaction. Examining the works of first and second generation poets such as Wordsworth, Blake, Byron and Shelley alongside drama, fiction and travel writing, the Companion explores the central themes of imagination, truth and reason, heroes and anti-heroes, faith and myth, offering closer readings of texts, and guiding students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of Romantic literature.

About the author: John Gilroy is a Lecturer in English at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, and lectures for the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. 

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Beth Palmer
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

  The York Notes Companion to Victorian Literature explores the drama, poetry and prose of an age of great innovation, that engaged with debates about empire, science and evolution, print culture, and gender. Examining classic texts such as Gaskell’s North and South and Tennyson’s In Memoriam, alongside lesser known works from the genre of sensation fiction and the fin de siècle, the Companion explores examples from a range of genres in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of Victorian literature.

About the author: Beth Palmer is a Lecturer in English at the University of Surrey.

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Gary Day
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

 The York Notes Companion to 19th Century American Literature explores literature written during an era of revolution, independence, civil war and consolidation. Covering key genres such as the early American novel, realist fiction and historical romance, short stories and poetry, by authors such as Hawthorne and Dickinson, the Companion discusses each genre in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of nineteenth-century American literature.

About the author: Rowland Hughes is a Principal Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Hertfordshire.

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Gary Day
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

   The York Notes Companion to Modernist Literature traces the literary developments of a period remarkable for its radical artistic innovation. Looking back to the origins of Modernism and the traditions that shaped it, the Companion examines Modernist masterpieces such as The Waste Land and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man alongside lesser known works of the period, offering detailed commentaries on texts as well as guiding students though key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of Modernism.

About the author: Gary Day is Principal Lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester. 

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Wendy Knepper
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

 The York Notes Companion to Postcolonial Literature explores the diversity and richness of postcolonial literature and literary theory, engaging with topics such as race, gender and sexuality, globalisation and multiculturalism. Examining key postcolonial texts, including Heart of Darkness, Wide Sargasso Sea, Beloved andBorn to Slow Horses, the Companion covers a range of genres in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts to their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of postcolonial literature.

About the author: Wendy Knepper is a Lecturer in English at Brunel University, and a member of the UK Postcolonial Studies Association.

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Gary Day
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

 The York Notes Companion to 20th Century American Literature explores a wide range of prose, drama and poetry from the era, engaging with key topics such as the American city, masculinities, race and the American home. Examining classic texts such as Tender is the Night, 'A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island' and Long Day's Journey Into Night, the Companion analyses a range of genres in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of 20th century American Literature.

About the author: Andrew Blades lectures at Bath Spa University and the University of Oxford, and writes theatre reviews for The Stage newspaper.

Series: York Notes Companions
Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Fiona Tolan
Language: British English

York Notes for Undergraduate Study Guide

  This York Notes Companion to Literature post 1990 examines contemporary writing in English at the turn of the millennium and beyond. Introducing emerging genres such as multicultural and postcolonial writing, contemporary theatre, autobiography and the neo-Victorian novel, the Companion explores works of established writers such as A. S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie, and Carol Ann Duffy alongside the newer voices of Zadie Smith, Alan Hollinghurst and Sarah Waters, offering detailed commentaries on texts and guiding students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of contemporary literature.

About the author: Fiona Tolan is a Lecturer in English at Liverpool John Moores University.

Series: A Longman Cultural Edition

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Dorothy Wordsworth
Language: British English

From Longman's Cultural Editions series, Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by internationally acclaimed expert Susan Levin, is the first to gather all the writings of Dorothy Wordsworth into a single volume, representing all the genres that attracted her pen: poetry, journals, travelogues, letters, tales and narratives. 

Often treated merely as an appendage to her famous brother William, Dorothy Wordsworth emerges across Susan Levin’s pages as a vital imagination, keenly tuned to her world, and pulsing with her own brilliance: journalist, poet, traveler, social activist, and crucial presence in the Wordsworth household. The world of Grasmere and its writing community are conveyed by selections from De Quincey on incest, Hannah Glasse on making mutton, a spy from the Home Office on “a sett of violent democrats,” and a country farmer on “the pernicious and destructive consequences of enclosing common fields” —all in all more than 400 pages of seething Romanticism.

Handsomely produced and affordably priced, the Longman Cultural Editions series presents classic works in provocative and illuminating contexts-cultural, critical, and literary. Each Cultural Edition consists of the complete texts of important literary works, reliably edited, headed by an inviting introduction, and supplemented by helpful annotations; a table of dates to track its composition, publication, and public reception in relation to biographical, cultural and historical events; and a guide for further inquiry and study.

Series: A Longman Cultural Edition

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling
Language: British English

From Longman's Cultural Editions series, Heart of Darkness, The Man Who Would Be King, and Other Works on Empire shows the literary and historical context within which–and against which–both Conrad and Kipling wrote their masterpieces.

These works have deeply influenced later writings that deal with the ambitions, complexities, and failures of imperial projects of cultural influence and political control.  English, American, South Asian, and African authors from Saul Bellow to Salman Rushdie have worked with and against the models pioneered by Conrad and Kipling in the late Victorian era; their revolutionary impact is illuminated in this text. 

Handsomely produced and affordably priced, Longman Cultural Editions consist of the complete text of an important literary work, reliably edited, headed by an inviting introduction, supplemented by helpful annotations, accompanied by a table of significant dates and a guide for further study, then followed by contextual materials that reveal the conversations and controversies of its historical moment.

Series: A Longman Cultural Edition

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: E.M. Foster
Language: British English

From Longman's Cultural Edition series, Howards End, edited by Douglas Mao, presents a wealth of critical and historical contexts for E. M. Forster’s brilliant novel about clashing values and love for a house.

  Art and commerce, nature and industry, idealism and pragmatism, women and men: the struggles, partings, and reconciliations between these pairs drive the narrative of one of the great English novels of the twentieth century. On its first release, Howards End was hailed as an extraordinary achievement. Never out of print since, it has attracted generations of readers with its splendid prose, its sensitive rendering of relationships, and its wickedly clever plot.  

 Handsomely produced and affordably priced, the Longman Cultural Editions series presents classic works in provocative and illuminating contexts-cultural, critical, and literary. Each Cultural Edition consists of the complete texts of important literary works, reliably edited, headed by an inviting introduction, and supplemented by helpful annotations; a table of dates to track its composition, publication, and public reception in relation to biographical, cultural and historical events; and a guide for further inquiry and study.

Series: A Longman Cultural Edition

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: William Shakespeare
Language: British English

From Longman's new Cultural Editions series, King Lear, edited by Claire McEachern, includes the play and contextual materials from the era of Shakespeare.

Handsomely produced and affordably priced, the Longman Cultural Editions series presents classic works in provocative and illuminating contexts–cultural, critical, and literary. Each Cultural Edition consists of the complete text of an important literary work, reliably edited, headed by an inviting introduction, and supplemented by helpful annotations; a table of dates to track its composition, publication, and public reception in relation to biographical, cultural, and historical events; and a guide for further inquiry and study.

Series: A Longman Cultural Edition

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Jane Austen
Language: British English

From Longman's Cultural Editions series, Northanger Abbey, edited by Marilyn Gaull, presents Jane Austin's classic work along with a critical introduction and contextual materials on and from the period.

Handsomely produced and affordably priced, the Longman Cultural Editions series presents classic works in provocative and illuminating contexts–cultural, critical, and literary. Each Cultural Edition consists of the complete text of an important literary work, reliably edited, headed by an inviting introduction, and supplemented by helpful annotations; a table of dates to track its composition, publication, and public reception in relation to biographical, cultural and historical events; and a guide for further inquiry and study.

Series: A Longman Cultural Edition

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Jane Austen
Language: British English

From Longman's Cultural Editions series, Persuasion, edited by William Galperin, presents Jane Austen's classic work along with a critical introduction and contextual materials on and from the period.  Published posthumously in 1817 along with the much earlier Northanger Abbey, the novel contains a number of elements that proved puzzling to Austen's nineteenth-centruy readers.  The supplementary materials to this Longman Cultural Edition are intended to collabroate with Persuasion in addressing and exploring these interlocking worlds:  moral, aesthetic, domestic, political, social, and military.   

  Handsomely produced and affordably priced, the Longman Cultural Editions series presents classic works in provocative and illuminating contexts–cultural, critical, and literary. Each Cultural Edition consists of the complete text of an important literary work, reliably edited, headed by an inviting introduction, and supplemented by helpful annotations; a table of dates to track its composition, publication, and public reception in relation to biographical, cultural and historical events; and a guide for further inquiry and study.

Series: Longman Literature

Publisher: Pearson Education

Author: Brian Moore, Roy Blatchford and Geoff Barton
Language: British English

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