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The Last Man

A Norton Critical Edition
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The Last Man is Mary Shelley's visionary novel depicting a post-apocalyptic world where one solitary figure remains as humanity faces its demise. Set in the distant future, the story explores themes of loss, isolation, and the enduring human spirit.
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Ideal for readers interested in classic literature, Gothic romance, speculative fiction, and those keen on comprehensive scholarly editions enriched with critical essays and historical context.

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This Norton Critical Edition includes:

  • The 1826 Henry Colburn edition of the novel, the only one approved by Mary Shelley.
  • Introduction and explanatory footnotes by Chris Washington.
  • A rich selection of contextual documents—twenty-six in all—pertaining to The Last Man's background and sources, reception and impact, other related works by Shelley, and other "Last Man" texts.
  • Fourteen carefully chosen critical assessments on the novel's major themes.
  • A chronology of Mary Shelley's life and work and a selected bibliography.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780393887822

Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 March 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: WW Norton & Co

Contributors:

  • Edited by Chris Washington

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 33.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 491g

Pages: 596

About the Author

Chris Washington is an assistant professor of English at Francis Marion University. He specializes in British Romantic literature, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century poetry and poetics, and literary theory. His articles have appeared in European Review, Essays in Romanticism, Literature Compass, and Romantic Circles Pedagogy Commons. With Anne McCarthy he is the coeditor of Romanticism and Speculative Realism, forthcoming from Bloomsbury Press.

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