{"product_id":"the-last-man-and-the-journal-of-sorrow-paperback","title":"The Last Man and the Journal of Sorrow - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMary Wollstonecraft Shelley\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eEileen M. Hunt\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMary Wollstonecraft Shelley began writing her 'Journal of Sorrow' (c.1822--6) three months after the devastating loss of her husband the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to drowning. In the privacy of the diary's pages, she grapples with her overwhelming grief over the tragic losses of her young husband, three of their children, and their friend the poet Lord Byron. Shelley ultimately resisted a suicidal depression by throwing herself into writing the allegorical plague novel and roman-à-clef, \u003cem\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/em\u003e (1826). Rooted in her own experiences of plagues both real and metaphorical, Shelley set \u003cem\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/em\u003e in the aftermath of a pestilential, centuries-long war between Greece and Turkey in the late twenty-first century. The novel is an existential and political thought experiment which provokes the mortal reader to contemplate the meaning of life and death in the face of the human-made disasters of war, epidemic, and species extinction. Through the ever-hopeful voice of the narrator Lionel Verney, the eponymous last man, Shelley leads readers to consider: what shouldÂbe done after a massive global disaster? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis edition presents these two masterpieces together, with a new editorial introduction and notes for both texts, giving readers profound insight into Shelley's enduring relevance for existential philosophy, life writing, post-apocalyptic literature, and political thought. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMary Wollstonecraft Shelley \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEileen Hunt is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame whose scholarly interests cover modern political thought, feminism, the family, rights, ethics of technology, and philosophy and literature. She has authored or edited ten books and her essays, political analyses, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in \u003cem\u003eAeon Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Chicago Tribune\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePublic Seminar\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e. Her scholarship on Wollstonecraft and Shelley has been supported by the NEH, the ACLS, the Sloan Foundation, and the Bodleian Libraries.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 592\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.06 x 7.78 x 5.35 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 12, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47027729563787,"sku":"9780198892793","price":25.12,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0670\/2579\/7259\/files\/2KgUETLg5A9780198892793.webp?v=1779339014","url":"https:\/\/thetaletrade.com\/products\/the-last-man-and-the-journal-of-sorrow-paperback","provider":"The Tale Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}