History of English Literature, Volume 2

History of English Literature is a comprehensive, eight-volume survey of English literature from the Middle Ages to the early twenty-first century. This reference work provides insightful and often revisionary readings of core texts in the English literary canon. Richly informative analyses are framed by the biographical, historical and intellectual context for each author. Volume 2 offers a general assessment of all of Shakespeare’s works, summarizes the critical reception since its onset, trac