THE BLOOMSBURY GUIDE TO ENGLISH LITERATURE ...

THE BLOOMSBURY GUIDE TO ENGLISH LITERATURE edited by Marion Wynne-Davis (Prentice Hall: $20; 1,066 pp., illustrated). Readers are more likely to turn to the more than 6,000 references in this concise encyclopedia than to read the lengthy academic essays that serve as an introduction. The entries include not only authors and their works but also historical figures and events, enabling the reader to check on the relevant kings and battles when reading Shakespeare’s history plays.