The Story of Poetry Volume Two: English Poets from Skelton to Dryden by Michael Schmidt (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £25)
THE world of verse is inextricably bound to that of politics and the progress of nations.
Language and poetic imagination are shaped by events and never more so than during the period of the Renaissance to the Restoration.
In Volume Two of this unique history of English poetry, Schmidt gives us an anthology of poetry from 1500-1700, including works by poets such as John Skelton, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, John Donne and Ben Jonson.
This is also a history of the poets' lives and the times in which they were writing.
Published to coincide with National Poetry Day, earlier this month, this book - part of a four-volume project - provides what is possibly the most comprehensive history of English poetry yet.
John Phillpott
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