Starkey argues that Elizabeth, in her first 25 years, "had experienced every vicissitude of fortune and every extreme of condition. She had been Princess and inheritrix of England, and bastard and disinherited; the nominated successor to the throne and an accused traitor on the verge of execution; showered with lands and houses, and a prisoner in the Tower". He draws on his skills as a respected Tudor historian to produce a deft account of the religious, political, and dynastic maelstrom of mid-16th-century England that reads "like a historical thriller." The book carefully picks its way through the finer points of contemporary religious conflict and the peculiarities of Tudor court ceremony, while exploring also the formation of Elizabeth's character in relation to a murdered mother, a charismatic father, a tortured sister, and a predatory guardian. Highly readable, and written with verve and pace, this is a fascinating account of the young Elizabeth. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk

Too often, writing theorists prescribe rules for their students and fellow teachers without providing any evidence that they themselves can comply with their own prescriptions. The contributors to Genre by Example are not evasive in this way. "Practice what you preach" might well be the book's ultimate pedagogy, a philosophy the contributors have embraced. They not only tell, they show. Bound by the conventions of a genre, they are better able to understand and explain the limitations, difficulties, and pleasures inherent in that genre. And the contributors find themselves saying exactly what they mean rather than engaging in jargon that is impressive and meaningful chiefly to academics.

Ultimately, the contributors' approach to the book's central concept has been limited by their knowledge that the readers will be primarily composition teachers, with instructors of creative writing and literature survey courses as secondary audiences. Genre by Example assumes these readers will welcome imaginative approaches to writing, but will also need to incorporate these ideas into their own classes. To that end, nearly every chapter offers specific, practical applications.

Teaching Writing Creatively features many of the most respected names in compositioninstructors with long, successful histories of providing teachers with functional yet inventive methods of teaching writing. The collection begins with articles that assert that all good writing must be, in some important sense, "creative." These contributors offer accounts of the transformation of their composition classrooms; essays that demonstrate that good student writing is only marginally about genre; and a critique of the creative writing workshop as a model for the composition class. Part II offers a variety of ways to approach the teaching of writing as a creative endeavor. It includes articles on helping students better understand their own writing processes and suggestions on alternative composing strategies and their classroom applications. The contributors to the final section offer a variety of new approaches to creative writing that can be successfully applied to expository writing courses as well.

Student-centered and process-oriented, Teaching Writing Creatively is a book writing instructors will find immediately usefulparticularly composition instructors who feel hemmed in by the conventional expectations of writing courses and creative writing instructors looking to take advantage of the latest innovations in composition studies.

As Ken Autrey notes in the Foreword, these pieces "offer tributes, capture poignant moments, and recount anecdotes, but they also develop arguments, defend positions, and explain theories." Somewhere in our bones we know that poetry and fiction can serve powerful pedagogical purposes. Here is proof upon proof, and not a line of it pedantic. Editors Bishop and Starkey additionally provide convincing essays on the value of bringing together composition and creative writing pedagogies.

You can read In Praise of Pedagogy, feel enriched by the experience, and put it back on the shelf. There is a far greater chance, though, that you're going to respond to the reading by writing. Recommended for English instructors at secondary and college levels.