This book explores Grahame’s engagements with classical antiquity in The Wind in the Willows, including ancient epic, parody (Batrachomyomachia), and pastoral imagery. Irby demonstrates how subtle echoes – such as the structure into 12 books, arming scenes, epic catalogues, anabases and katabases, lying tales, Toad’s "cleverness"—cumulatively suggest a link between The Wind in the Willows and classical literature. This study offers the first sustained treatment of classical allusions in The Wind in the Willows, considering the entire novel, not isolated scenes, building on existing scholarship to yield an interpretation through the lens of classical literature and its reception in Victorian and Edwardian England. This volume will provide a unique resource for students and scholars of classical reception and literature, as well as comparative literature, English literature, children’s literature, gender studies, and Grahame’s writing.

In the ancient Mediterranean world, the sea was an essential domain for trade, cultural exchange, communication, exploration, and colonisation. In tandem with the lived reality of this maritime space, a parallel experience of the sea emerged in narrative representations from ancient Greece and Rome, of the sea as a cultural imaginary. This imaginary seems often to oscillate between two extremes: the utopian and the catastrophic; such representations can be found in narratives from ancient history, philosophy, society, and literature, as well as in their post-classical receptions. Utopia can be found in some imaginary island paradise far away and across the distant sea; the sea can hold an unknown, mysterious, divine wealth below its surface; and the sea itself as a powerful watery body can hold a liberating potential. The utopian quality of the sea and seafaring can become a powerful metaphor for articulating political notions of the ideal state or for expressing an individual’s sense of hope and subjectivity. Yet the catastrophic sea balances any perfective imaginings: the sea threatens coastal inhabitants with floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes and sailors with storms and the accompanying monsters. From symbolic perspectives, the catastrophic sea represents violence, instability, the savage, and even cosmological chaos. The twelve papers in this volume explore the themes of utopia and catastrophe in the liminal environment of the sea, through the lens of history, philosophy, literature and classical reception. Contributors: Manuel Álvarez-Martí-Aguilar, Vilius Bartninkas, Aaron L. Beek, Ross Clare, Gabriele Cornelli, Isaia Crosson, Ryan Denson, Rhiannon Easterbrook, Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz, Georgia L. Irby, Simona Martorana, Guy Middleton, Hamish Williams.

Historical events literally took place in specific contexts; 'where things are' shapes 'how things are'. In this book, Corinna Rossi examines how three different ways of interacting with the surrounding world were shaped by their physical context in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Following a discussion on the relationship between history and geography, Rossi delves into the geographical settings of these three civilisations, analysing human mobility within them and how cultural development was shaped by these movements. Rossi also identifies three possible models to describe the three different approaches specific to each of these ancient societies. Egypt, Greece, and Rome: A History of Space and Places is suitable for students and scholars with previous understanding of these three civilisations and an interest in the relationship between history and geography.

And in this context of a swiftly changing society, as well as changing viewpoints toward literary genres, Grahame's new book was met with a flock of confused reviewers. From Hunt's brief study of the critical reception of Willows, we can see from the outset that critics were unclear for whom the book was intended.

Thomas is an aquarium toad of unknown parentage. He doesn’t know his past and the prospects for his future are dim. While he’s read extensively about faraway lands, Thomas has never ventured beyond the glass walls of home. But when happenstance leaves a door open into a brave new world, Thomas hopes he’ll finally discover where he belongs. As the story unfolds, this humble but educated toad finds himself in the middle of a civil feud between rival frog clans and a lost kingdom yet to be restored. Thomas wrestles with the tension of being a toad of two worlds, and learns that pride can overtake anyone, and that even victory can defeat the victor. Frog of Arcadia is an enchanting moral epic filled with cowardice and chivalry, pride and majesty, boorishness and heroism. But a divine order holds it all together and, at last, we all reap what we sow.

Analyzes humor in literary works by British authors of the 20th century and provides extensive bibliographical information.

HAPPY ENDINGS DON'T LAST FOREVER . . . . The War of Darkness has ended but Brand Redtail senses a new threat from across the Western Ocean. As peace treaties fall apart in Carrot Field and the Outlands, international and civil wars loom. Sebastian Perriwinkle, Professor Plotonicus and Brand Redtail set sail for Trelaan, the Distant Land in the West, on a quest to confront a powerful enemy with no name . . . . Return to the world of Carrot Field, where mind-bending science-fiction meets epic fantasy adventure! If you love Frank Herbert's DUNE and J.R.R. Tolkien's LORD of the RINGS, you will love Carrot Field!