Watch the Amazon Original series Cross now on Prime Video. Yours with Prime.
Select delivery location
See All Buying Options
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Arthur Sullivan
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Asimov's Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan Hardcover – January 1, 1988

by Isaac Asimov (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
See all formats and editions
Provides background notes and explanations for all fourteen of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, and includes the complete text of each libretto
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    1056 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Doubleday
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1988
  5. ISBN-10
    0385239157
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0385239158
  7. See all details
Next slide of product details
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday; First Edition (January 1, 1988)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1056 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385239157
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385239158
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.95 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 11 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Arthur Sullivan

Arthur Sullivan

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
11 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Robert
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for anyone who enjoys Gilbert & Sullivan
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2024
Verified Purchase
This book explains a great deal of the meaning behind the lyrics in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. I would have been lost as to some of the humor without it.
Helpful
 Report
Richard
4.0 out of 5 stars Good reading for those who want a little more education.
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2013
Verified Purchase
When we are in school we cannot wait to get out.
Everything they teach is boring, none of it has to do with our real lives, and we all cannot wait for the bell to ring and our lives to start. "College" has morphed from a liberal arts education to make a well rounded "gentleman," to a glorified, and rather expensive, trade school that we have to hanker down to finish as fast and economically as possible. Gone are the days of auditing a class for it general interest.

Most of us are familiar with at least the names "Gilbert and Sullivan," and a few of us can name the famously popular operettas they produced. Fewer still can tell you the stories of those productions and you probably will not meet anyone today who can sing a few stanzas of any of the legendary songs. Thus the state of "modern education."

However, Gilbert and Sullivan were the first "Saturday Night Live" authors and their biting satires of life and society ring as true today, as they did over 100 years ago. If only you could understand them.

Enter the "great explainer." Asimov has taken the particularly British, and particularly Victorian Light Operas and added notes to explain passages and "then current" references to a modern audience. Sort of like what parents and grandparents have to do to children watching the original "Not Ready for Prime-time Players."

Now that you are through with your "education," in the modern sense, it might be time to get an eduction in the traditional one. To expand yourself beyond the core classes you cold afford to take back when teachers were standing in line to show you the world. Pick up this book and son you will find yourself dropping references into conversations, sales pitches, and become the very models of modern major generals. (and understand what that meant then and more particularly, now)
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Gypsie Arnold
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
Good price. Part of son’s gift list. He was very happy with it.
Helpful
 Report
Daisy Brambletoes
3.0 out of 5 stars Big Fat G&S book!
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
It's basically just another book of the great G&S classics with notations to help readers understand some of the facts and details. I almost gave it four stars for Hilary Knight's adorable cover art, which is what attracted me to this edition in the first place, but while it is a nice edition, the vendors are all overpricing it.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Sheila L. Beaumont
5.0 out of 5 stars A delight for Gilbert & Sullivan fans
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2000
Writer Martin Gardner once told Isaac Asimov that if he really wanted to have fun, he should find a book he liked very much and annotate it. "Asimov's Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan" is one of the results of that suggestion. This enormous volume contains the words to all the G&S operas, plus extensive notes explaining allusions and words that might be unfamiliar to today's listener. Asimov assumes minimal knowledge on the part of the reader, so this book is useful and entertaining not only for the veteran G&S aficionado but also for the neophyte.
22 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
William
5.0 out of 5 stars Groooovy baby!
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2000
Isaac Asimov has such a delightful wit that even his explanations of archaic terms are fun to read. When combined with W.S. Gilbert's hilarious librettos, it makes one entertaining read. Actually, it makes more than one entertaining read. i have read it several times and still enjoy it.
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
P. HEIMAN
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book--if only it were complete
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
Asimov's comments are always spot-on. The book is in generally fine condition. G&S don't need further kudos from me, I hope.
What loses a star is that a 16 page segment, from p. 273-288, is missing, and the previous 16 pages are printed twice. If this binding error was mentioned in the item description, I missed it.
Helpful
 Report