David Womersley has been a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Jesus College, Oxford since 1984. He has published widely on English Literature from the early sixteenth to the early nineteenth century. His previous publications include, Restoration Drama: An Anthology (Blackwell 2000), Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1994), Gibbon: Bicentenary Essays (1997), Augustan Critical Writing (1997), The Transformation of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1988).

"This volume is No. 7 in the Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture series and it more than comes up to the standard of the previous six. The whole volume is a formidable piece of work, not one to be read start to finish, but one for specialists to consult and study. Such consultation is made easier by the provision of a good index." Reference Reviews "This collection's 55 original essays offer general critical introductions to specific periods, topics, genres, and works in English literature, roughly 1640s to 1790s. Indexing points to other major works and topics not treated separately. The essays on specific works vary in scope and perspective: some address only themes, others cover critical reception; some keep great critical distance, others offer close readings. For most academic collections, lower-division through faculty."Choice "A Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake, like its renaissance counterpart, is a bumper compendium of fifty-five essays on contexts, texts, periods and genres[...]There are numerous helpful pieces..."A Journal of English Language and Literature

• Introduction: David Womersley. Notes on Contributors.Part I: Contexts, Issues and Debates:.1. The Civil War and British Literature: Martin Dzelzainis.2. Women Writers and Readers: Sue Wiseman.3. Literature and Party: Brean Hammond.4. Sentiment and Sensibility: Ann Jessie van Sant.5. Classical Imitation: David Hopkins.6. Forgery and Plagiarism: Nick Groom.7. Literature and Nationhood: Murray Pittock.8. The Book Trade: Michael Suarez.Part II: Readings: .9. Milton, Areopagitica: Martin Dzelzainis.10. Herrick, Hesperides: Peter Davidson.11. Marvell, Horatian Ode: Thomas Healy.12. Hobbes, Leviathan: David Wootton.13. Katherine Philips, Poems: Jane Spencer.14. Lucy Hutchinson, Memoirs: David Norbrook.15. Bunyan, Grace Abounding: Anita Pacheco.16. Milton, Paradise Lost: Nicholas von Maltzahn.17. Aphra Behn, The Rover: Ros Ballaster.18. Rochester, Satyr Against Reason à: Paddy Lyons.19. Aphra Behn, Poems: Sarah Prescott.20. Dryden, Fables: David Hopkins.21. Congreve, The Way of the World: Malcolm Kelsall.22. Swift, Tale of a Tub: Claude Rawson.23. Pope, Windsor Forest: Christine Gerrard.24. Gay, Trivia: David Nokes.25. Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year: David Womersley.26. Eliza Haywood, Fantomina: Sarah Prescott.27. Thomson, The Seasons: David Fairer.28. Pope, Dunciad: Valerie Rumbold.29. Duck, Poems on Several Subjects: Bridget Keegan.30. Akenside, Pleasures of the Imagination: David Fairer.31. Collins, Ode on the Poetical Character: Katherine Turner.32. Richardson, Clarissa: Tom Keymer.33. Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes: Tom Kaminski.34. Fielding, Tom Jones: Richard Braverman.35. Gray, An Elegy à:Katherine Turner.36. Johnson, Dictionary: Anne McDermott.37. Johnson, Rasselas: Anne McDermott.38. Smart, Jubilate Agno: Alun David.39. Sterne, Tristram Shandy: David Fairer.40. Macpherson, Fingal: Dafydd Moore.41. Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling: David Womersley.42. Boswell, The Life of Johnson: Bruce Redford.43. Blake, Innocence and Experience: Jon Mee.Part III: Periods:.45. 1681-1688: Abigail Williams.46. 1701-1713: Stuart Sherman.47. 1733-1742: Christine Gerrard.48. 1756-1776: Nick Groom.Part IV: Genres and Modes:.49. Pamphlets and News: Joad Raymond.50. Political Writing: David Wootton.51. Philosophical Writing: Peter Walmsley.52. Historical Writing: Karen O'Brien.53. Religious Writing: Brian Young.54. The Novel: Simon Varey.55. Poetry: David Fairer.56. Drama: Paulina Kewes.Index.