The Broadview Reader In Book History

Book History has emerged as one of the most exciting new interdisciplinary fields of study in the humanities. By focusing on the production, circulation and reception of the book in all its forms, it has transformed the study of history, literature and culture. The Broadview Book History Reader is the most complete and up-to-date introduction available to this area of study. The reader reprints 33 key essays in the field, grouped conceptually and provided with headnotes, explanatory footnotes, an introduction, a chronology, and a glossary of terms.

Book history has emerged in the last twenty years as one of the most important new fields of interdisciplinary study. It has produced new interpretations of major historical events, has made possible new approaches to history, literature, media, and culture, and presents a distinctive historical perspective on current debates about the future of the book. The Broadview Introduction to Book History provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to this field. Written in a lively, accessible style, chapters on materiality, textuality, printing and reading, intermediality, and remediation guide readers through numerous key concepts, illustrated with examples from literary texts and historical documents produced across a wide historical range. An ideal text for undergraduate and graduate courses in book history, it offers a road map to this dynamic inter-disciplinary field.

This new edition includes most of the essays that have made The Broadview Reader one of the most popular first-year textbooks in Canada, and adds 18 fresh selections. As before, essays are gathered into groups by topic, but the editors also provide alternative tables of contents by rhetorical patterns and devices, and by chronology. Each selection is followed by a wide range of questions and suggestions for discussions, and the reader also includes a glossary and biographical notes. Most of the new selections are of recent vintage, but in recognition of the degree to which “modern” issues often have a long and honourable history, the editors have also added several selections by nineteenth-century writers. Also, the reader now includes a full section on “Women in Society.” The book’s balance of Canadian and non-Canadian writers has been maintained, as has the range of different styles and different essay lengths that are included. In all, the new edition includes 80 selections.

The Book in Society: An Introduction to Print Culture examines the origins and development of one of the most important inventions in human history. Books can inform, entertain, inspire, irritate, liberate, or challenge readers, and their forms can be tangible and traditional, like a printed, casebound volume, or virtual and transitory, like a screen-page of a cell-phone novel. Written in clear, non-specialist prose, The Book in Society first provides an overview of the rise of the book and of the modern publishing and bookselling industries. It explores the evolution of written texts from early forms to contemporary formats, the interrelationship between literacy and technology, and the prospects for the book in the twenty-first century. The second half of the book is based on historian Robert Darnton’s concept of a book publishing “communication circuit.” It examines how books migrate from the minds of authors to the minds of readers, exploring such topics as the rise of the modern notion of the author, the role of states and others in promoting or restricting the circulation of books, various modes of reproducing and circulating texts, and how readers’ responses help shape the form and content of the books available to them. Feature boxes highlighting key texts, individuals, and developments in the history of the book, carefully selected illustrations, and a glossary all help bring the history of the book to life.

Popular Culture: A Broadview Topics Reader is an accessible collection of non-fiction writing for composition students and students of popular culture. The anthology takes an expansive view of its subject, encompassing advertising, code-switching, social media, emerging technologies, the body positivity movement, cultural appropriation, and more. A wide variety of genres are represented, from personal and literary essays to journalism and academic writing. Selections are arranged by theme; the book also includes an alternative table of contents listing material by genre and rhetorical style, as well as suggested pairings of pieces that complement each other. Headnotes, explanatory notes, and discussion questions facilitate student engagement with each piece. A selection of color images features advertisements, journalistic photography, and other materials that aim to prompt classroom discussion.

This volume features a careful selection of major works in political and social philosophy from ancient times through to the present. Every reading has been painstakingly annotated, and each figure is given a substantial introduction highlighting his or her major contribution to the tradition. The anthology offers both depth and breadth in its selection of material by central figures, while also representing other currents of political thought. Thirty-two authors are represented, including fourteen from the 20th century. The editors have made every effort to include translations that are both readable and reliable. In order to ensure the highest standards of accuracy and accessibility, the editors have consulted dozens of leading academics during the course of the volume’s development (many of whom have contributed introductory material as well as advice). The result is an anthology with unparalleled pedagogical benefits; The Broadview Anthology of Social and Political Thought sets the new standard for social and political philosophy instruction.

Designed for courses taught at the introductory level in Canadian universities and colleges, this new anthology provides a rich selection of literary texts. Unlike many other such anthologies, it includes literary non-fiction as well as poetry, short fiction, and drama. In each genre the anthology includes a vibrant mix of classic and contemporary works. Each work is accompanied by an introductory headnote and by explanatory notes, and each genre is prefaced by a substantial introduction. Companion websites include genre-specific quizzes and discussion questions for students and instructors. Pedagogically current and uncommon in its breadth of representation, The Broadview Introduction to Literature invites students into the world of literary study in a truly distinctive way. The second edition of The Broadview Anthology of Literature: Short Fiction includes new stories by Haruki Murakami, Octavia Butler, Lynn Coady, Leeanne Betasamosake Simpson, and more.

The Broadview Introduction to Philosophy is a comprehensive anthology that surveys core topics in Western philosophy, including philosophy of religion, theories of knowledge, metaphysics, ethics, social-political philosophy, and issues of life, death, and happiness. Unlike other introductory anthologies, the Broadview offers considerable apparatus to assist the student reader in understanding the texts without simply summarizing them. Each selection includes an introduction discussing the context and structure of the primary reading, as well as thorough annotations designed to clarify unfamiliar terms, references, and argument forms. Canonical texts from the history of philosophy are presented alongside contemporary scholarship; women authors are included throughout.