An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age: British Culture 1776-1832

I second everything covered in Mr Clarke's review. This volume is an absolute feast, beautifully illustrated, and with its unusual organization into two well-linked sections, remarkably usable. It can be read cover-to-cover for the fasinating long essays that place each author's point-of-view within the broader academic debates and for the entertaining but informative shorter entries. But it's also a terrific encyclopedia-style reference manual which I refer to often, with rich further references on most topics. A model of imaginative clarity.

This Oxford Companion is one of the most engrossing of all reference works. The book is divided into two hefty sections. The first contains 41 substantial essays on general themes of the era, such as "Revolution," "Industrialization," and "Empire." The essays are written by leading scholars including Jerome McGann, and each essay is concluded with a brief bibliography, which is a great aid to research. Moreover, the essays are fully indexed. This in itself would be a great read, but it's only half the book. The second section of the Companion is a 375-page encyclopedia containing short articles on a whole range of significant contributors to European romanticism, as well as longer articles on the period's various genres, movements, events, and minor themes. What's more, the two sections of the book are fully cross-referenced, and the book is well illustrated throughout. This Companion should be on the "Recommended Reading" list for every undergraduate Romantic-era history or literature course. Not only that, it should be read, as well! A challenging, often provocative, always insightful survey of the great sweep of British culture in the Romantic age.