Examines literary texts in the times and places in which they were written and took place place. The twelve volume set covers a full range of world literature, from Australia to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between.

Because the treatment of each title is quite in depth, only approximately fifty texts can be included in each volume. "Every entry discusses the relevant issues apart from the literary work, making connections to it when merited, and allowing for comparisons between the literary and the historical realities. Close attention is given as well to the literary work itself, in the interest of extracting historical understandings from it."