In this wonderfully entertaining and instructive book Michael Schmidt gives us a history of English poetry from 1500 to 1700. The book divides into two halves - the first is a history of the poets' lives, the times during which they were writing, and an account of their works; and the second is an anthology of the poetry itself. Schmidt shows how language and the poetic imagination are shaped by politics and history, and never more so than during the period of the Renaissance to the Restoration . This is an invaluable book for all readers of poetry and students who will find no other competing volume available. This is the second book in a major four-volume project which will provide the most comprehensive history of English poetry.