is an accessible, authoritative and comprehensive introduction to English literature in the seventeenth century. It provides a one-stop resource for literature students, with the essential information and guidance needed at the beginning of a course through to the development of more advanced knowledge and skills. It includes: - introductions to authors, texts and contexts- guides to key critics, concepts and topics- an overview of major critical approaches, changes in the canon and directions of current and future research - case studies in reading literary and critical texts- an annotated bibliography (including websites), timeline, glossary of critical terms. Written in clear language by leading academics, it is an indispensable starting point for students beginning their study of seventeenth-century literature.