Each text is fully annotated and includes the original illustrations. The "Backgrounds" section is arranged to correspond with three clearly defined periods in Lewis Carroll's life. Letters and diary entries are interwoven within each period, emphasizing the biographical dimension of Carroll's writing. Readers gain an understanding of the author's family and education, the evolution of the Alice books, and Carroll's later years through his own words and through important scholarly work on his faith life and his relationships with women and with Alice Hargreaves and her family. Eleven new critical works have been chosen since the previous edition, while five have been retained. The selected bibliography has been updated and expanded.