Part of the complete reissue of The Oxford History of English Literature, this volume covers both famous and lesser known authors of the English Restoration. The author is particularly keen to highlight the work of authors whom he feels have been largely neglected by literary criticism. Hence he covers dramatists such as Shadwell, Lee, Otway and Southerne and authors such as John Banks, Mrs Behn, Crowne, Durfey and Ravenscroft. The book also looks at Restoration preachers, historians, biographers, essayists, poets and eccentrics such as John Aubrey and Walter Pope. Despite the book's clear literary bias, it does not ignore men of science, politics and economics. Of particular interest during the Restoration period is the development of literary criticism in its very early stages, and the author examines the implications of this development for literature as a whole.