Here is the revised and expanded edition of Daniel S. Burt's fascinating assessment of the 100 most influential novelists, playwrights, and poets of all times and cultures - now with 25 additional entries and some reassessments as well as 25 new black-and-white photographs and illustrations. From Doris Lessing and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to Homer and Marcel Proust, the entries provide a compelling, accessible introduction to significant writers of world literature. All of the writers selected have helped to redefine literature, establishing a standard with which succeeding generations of writers and readers have had to contend.