PETER C. HERMAN is Professor of English and Comparative Literature, San Diego State University, USA. His previous books include Royal Poetrie: Monarchic Verse and the Political Imaginary of Early Modern England (2010) and Destabilizing Milton: ''Paradise Lost'' and the Poetics of Incertitude (2008). His essays have appeared in Renaissance Quarterly, SEL, and Criticism.

"Here is much more of both information and entertainment than one expects from a "short history"! Summing Up: Highly recommended." (Choice, 1 October 2011)

• Aims and Acknowledgements viQuoting from Early Modern Texts ixIllustrations xEngland’s Rulers From Richard II to Charles II xiTimeline of Key Events xii1 An Overview of Early Modern England 12 The Back-Story of the Tudor Dynasty: From Richard II to Henry VII 273 Henry VII, Henry VIII, and the Henrician Era (1509–47) 594 Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, and Mary I (1547–53) 925 The Elizabethan Era (1558–1603) 1156 The Reign of King James VI/I (1603–25) 1497 Charles I (1625–42): From Accession to the Beginning of the Civil Wars 1818 The Civil Wars, the Commonwealth, and the Early Restoration (1642–71) 214Index 252