It is the purpose of this study to examine the subject-matter of those English dramas of 1900-1912 which portray serious action and produce tragic effect. In this study all purely aesthetic questions are ignored. The language medium in which the drama is expressed is considered only as it constitutes a question of characterization. Structure is ignored entirely. All considerations of the drama's suitability for stage production are ignored except as these are questions concerning plausibility and effectiveness of characterization.

This bibliography is the second revised edition of a book first published in 1978 under a somewhat different title. Apart from correcting mistakes, the second edition extends the coverage of material until 1986 and includes many items from 1987 and 1988. It also adds numerous items that should have been included in the first edition but had somehow escaped my notice.

This bibliography brings together information on over 4,000 dissertations that deal wholly or in part with Irish writers and Anglo-Irish literature. Included are works from more than 350 universities and from 28 different countries, a scope of material that has not been collected in one place before. The dissertation subjects include not only poets, novelists, and dramatists, but also critics, diarists, scholars, historians, and journalists. In all, 193 authors are studied, whose lives cover the years from 1600 to the present. The book, which supersedes all previously published volumes on this subject, lists each entry under the author as subject, rather than under a topical, genre, or subject designation. Because multiple-subject entries are listed under first mentioned author, a complete see-also reference section has been included to direct users to all entries related to each author. The volume also includes a section on general and topical studies, as well as a subject index. This book will be an important reference for courses in English literature, Irish studies, and theater and drama, and an important addition to most university and college libraries.