"Under the editorial direction of Professor Norman Page, more than 40 of the world's most prominent experts on Hardy have been brought together to combine their insights and understandings of all aspects of Hardy studies. The result is a unique synthesis of knowledge, incorporating different national interests and traditions of scholarship, investigating Hardy's life, work, and influences, and the historical context in which he wrote." "As well as the assurance of sound scholarship and the convenience of the Companion format, there are unexpected delights for the browser, such as entries on alcohol, humour, and pets. The Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy is for the Hardy scholar and the Hardy reader alike: more than 300 entries arranged A-Z for immediate access; all the novels, collections of verse, autobiography, letters, essays, stories, and notebooks; Hardy's family and friends, the places that were important to him, and the influences that shaped his works; popular reaction and critical approaches to his work, and the history of Hardy publishing; 40 integrated black-and-white illustrations; fully cross-referenced to facilitate browsing; and subject index listing entries by topic, Additional material includes a chronology of Hardy's life, an index of his poems, lists of place-names and characters in his works, a glossary of dialect words and expressions, and an extensive bibliography."--Jacket.