history and criticism

Alphabetically arranged entries profile the works of more than two hundred playwrights and compares and contrasts the adapted versions of their work on film, television, video, and DVD.

Traces the history of African-American music from bebop to hip-hop, discussing how the African-American experience has often been chronicled through various forms of music.

Traces the history of American soul music, profiling the innterconnections among the genre's personalities, events, and achievements.

A collection of essays in which Alfred Kazin reflects on the impact of American history on literature.

Examines the galant style of music which emerged against the backdrop of a changing society and culture in the capital cities of Europe between 1720 and 1780.

Discusses Melville's Battle-Pieces, a book of poems that chronicles the Civil War from John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry through Lincoln's assassination.

Offers detailed accounts of the making of three classic Western films, "High Noon," "Shane," and "The Searchers".

Presents fourteen critical essays on the writings of eighteenth-century German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and includes a chronology of his life, a bibliography, and an introduction by Harold Bloom.

Reprints over 140 major stories from newspapers throughout the United States, each with an explanatory introduction, covering a period that ranges from 1704 to 2000.

Chronicles the history of developments in recording technology since the first classical recordings were made in Thomas Edison's laboratory in the late 1880s, and discusses the impact of recording on both performers and listeners.