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George Bernard Shaw considered himself a socialist, but was apt to make surprising remarks about the poor. "Hamlet's experiences simply could not have happened to a plumber," he wrote in the preface to his play The Dark Lady of the Sonnets in 1910, and "A poor man is useful on the stage only as a blind man is: to excite sympathy."

The post The rich and the poor in Shakespeare appeared first on OUPblog.

This October, the OUP Philosophy team has chosen Karl Marx as their Philosopher of the Month. Karl Marx was an economist and philosopher best known for 'The Communist Manifesto' and 'Das Kapital'. Although sometimes misconstrued, his work has influenced various political leaders including Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, and the 14th Dalai Lama.

The post How well do you know Karl Marx? [quiz] appeared first on OUPblog.

This October, the OUP Philosophy team are highlighting German social and political theorist Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) as their Philosopher of the Month. Known as the founder of revolutionary communism, Marx is credited as one of the most influential thinkers for his theoretical framework, widely known as Marxism.

The post Philosopher of the month: Karl Marx appeared first on OUPblog.

Although occultists like the antiquarian Montague Summers would like to claim that the belief in vampires is global and transhistorical (and therefore probably true), the vampire is a thoroughly modern being. Like the Gothic genre itself, stories of vampires emerge in the Age of Enlightenment, as instances of primitive superstition that help define the rational scepticism of northern, Protestant Europe.

The post The birth of the vampyre: Dracula and mythology in Early Modern Europe appeared first on OUPblog.

[For more on Owen Schumacher, visit his blog, Winning the Polyglottery!]

The firecrackers are starting to sizzle and spit! Are you ready? Here come the winners for our 10,000 Hits Contest!

1st Place goes to Liquid Amber, winner of the tre chic Banned Book bracelet from Vroman's Books in Pasadena. I'm wearing mine today. Love it tons. Way to go LA!

2nd place to Anne Marie, who will receive an autographed copy of Robin's lastest book Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. And don't forget, you can also designate another recipient if you want to donate the book to a school, agency, child, or White House Library.

3rd place goes Stephanie Humphreys! I'll send you (or your designee) a signed copy of The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California. Atta girl, Stephanie!

And, last, but never least, 4th place honors to Rebecca Langston George! Hip hip soufle! Rebecca, you have your choice of chocolate OR a 10-page manuscript critique from Robin. Anyone else out there willing to admit that this would present a real conundrum?

I need our four esteemed winners to email me with your address so we can get your booty out to you.

Danke, arigato and graci, good friends, for joining in our celebration and being part of our SVP world. We are truly having the time of our lives here, and look forward to the next ten grand, or gazillion. (I'm working on my abundance issues.)

YOUR fans,

Mary & Robin