This volume comprises ten essays challenging the dominant account of Samuel Beckett as a figure that cannot be read historically by drawing on new archival materials and situating his finished works in their historical context.

"The essays in this collection, individually and collectively, revitalize Beckett Studies with a fresh transfusion of new ideas.The authors successfully recuperate the Historical Beckett - an artist attuned to, engaged with, and indeed produced by his history." - Graley Herren, Associate Professor of English, Xavier University