&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RIvanhoe&&L/I&&R, by &&LSTRONG&&RSir Walter Scott&&L/B&&R&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R

• New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&RMedieval England. King Richard the Lion-hearted, coming home from the Crusades, has been captured and imprisoned in Austria. His wicked brother, John, has seized the throne and refuses to pay Richard's ransom. Meanwhile the conflict between Saxon and Norman threatens to turn into civil war.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RStanding above it all is Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the disinherited son of Cedric, a Saxon noble. Ivanhoe enraged his father by following the Norman Richard to the Crusades. Now back in England, he wants to help rescue Richard--and marry Cedric's ward, Rowena. But Cedric has pledged her to a highborn Saxon in hopes of creating a new Saxon royal line. To this mix &&LB&&RWalter Scott&&L/B&&R adds several ferocious Norman villains, the legendary Robin Hood, a Shakespearean "wise fool" who constantly offers wryly sardonic comments on the action, and a sidelong look at English anti-Semitism, as a pair of Jewish characters, the beautiful Rebecca and her father, Isaac of York, alternately protect and garner protection from Ivanhoe.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RWith its clanging swords, burning castles, damsels in distress, and kings in disguise, &&LI&&RIvanhoe&&L/I&&R remains Scott's best-loved novel of historical romance.&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LB&&RGillen DArcy Wood &&L/B&&Rwas born in Australia, and came to New York on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1992. He took his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2000, and is now Assistant Professor of English at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of an historical novel, &&LI&&RHosack's Folly&&L/I&&R (Other Press, 2005), and a cultural history of Romantic literature and art, &&LI&&RThe Shock of the Real: Romanticism and Visual Culture, 1760-1860&&L/I&&R (Palgrave, 2001), as well as numerous articles on nineteenth-century British literature and culture.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R