The Seventeenth Century Handbook provides the undergraduate with a succinct account of the century’s events, along with an exploration of the ways the literature reflected and helped shape the history of the time. - Provides a coherent narrative of the entire century of literary history as well as an easy-to-use guide to the principal literary works and figures - Offers an exploration of the ways the literature reflected and helped shape the history of the time - Describes the continuities as well as the radical changes in this century of civil war and reformation - Combines a central narrative account of “texts and contexts” with a selection of brief essays on key texts and topics