How to write the history of a cultural mode that, for all its abiding fascination with the past, has challenged and complicated received notions of history from the very start? The Cambridge History of the Gothic rises to this challenge, charting the history of the Gothic even as it reflects continuously upon the mode's tendency to question, subvert and render incomplete all linear historical narratives. Taken together, the three chronologically sequenced volumes in the series provide a rigorous account of the origins, efflorescence and proliferation of the Gothic imagination, from its earliest manifestations in European history through to the present day. Written by an international cast of contributors, the chapters bring fresh scholarly attention to bear upon established Gothic themes while also drawing attention to new critical concerns. As such, they are of relevance to the general reader, the student and the established scholar alike.