The Oxford Guide to Literary Britain & Ireland

First published in 1977, this classic reference work is a gazetteer of almost 2,000 places - villages, towns, cities, and landscapes - in Britain and Ireland detailing their connections with the lives of famous writers. It invites the reader to explore the places where their favourite writers - from Jane Austen to Philip Pullman - were born, lived, were educated, worked, and drew inspiration. The entries elegantly interweave information with anecdote and quotation, to build a vivid picture of the day-to-day lives of the writers. The Guide is the ideal resource and companion for any literay pilgrimage in Britain or Ireland, and for the armchair literary traveller. New to this edition are special feature entries on writers particularly associated with places, including the Brontes, Walter Scott, and James Joyce, contributed by high-profile authors including Margaret Drabble and John Sutherland. The Guide also provides an index of author names, with mini biographies, enabling the reader to track down all the places associated with their favourite writers. It is stunningly illustrated throughout, with colour plates, contemporary black-and white photographs, and beautifully illustrated maps of major literary cities such as Bath, Edinburgh, Dublin, and London, and boasts a fresh new design.