The Collected Critical Heritage II comprises 40 volumes covering 19th and 20th century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995. The Critical Heritage series gathers together a large body of critical figures in literature.

Jean Hugard's "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" remains one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive texts on card effects even after 60 years of being in publication. A brief summary of the table of contents shows the variety of effects covered: impromptu card tricks, spelling effects, "you do as I do", special cards, special decks (Svengali, Mene-Tekel, Stripper), calculation effects, and miscellaneous card tricks. Hugard describes the effects clearly and accurately, attributes the originator of the effect (if known), and occasionally offers an editorial comment or suggestion. The book is quite literally a gold mine of information, awaiting an interested and motivated magician to mine its contents.

This work consists of short excerpts of criticism of 20th-century American authors by important critics writing in newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, and books. The excerpts (ranging in length from one or two paragraphs to two columns) are allowed to stand on their own without separate plot synopses, summaries, or background information on the authors.

Review
Bill Bright, ex editor, Language in Society
Mesthrie's outline is well thought out, and he is a sound scholar. ... a volume that meets high scholarly standards, and will be of great usefulness to readers seeking a reference book in sociolinguistics.