Lisa Hopkins is Professor of English at University of Sheffield Hallam. She has published numerous works on Shakespeare including her most recent work, Beginning Shakespeare (2005) and has written on film adaptations including Screening the Gothic. She is the Senior Editor of the online journal, Early Modern Literary Studies. Matthew Steggle is Reader in English at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He is editor of the ejournal Early Modern Literary Studies, and a Contributing Editor to The Cambridge Works of Ben Jonson.

"Anyone who has ever wished for the background of English Renaissance literature in a nutshell will appreciate this book. Lisa Hopkins and Matthew Steggle squeeze a tremendous amount of readable information into a mere 144 pages, neatly laid out in a brief introduction and four major sections, each of which is divided further into multiple short subsections. An index allows the reader to locate quickly people, ideas, and literary pieces discussed in the text...Renaissance Literature and Culture provides important background material for study in a readably compressed format, along with suggested resources for further study." -Sherron Lux, The Sixteenth Century Journal, Fall 2008

• 1. Introduction 2. Historical, Cultural and Intellectual Context 2.1 Politics and Economics2.2 Religion2.3 Science and Technology2.4 Art and Culture2.5 Social Structures3. Literature in the Renaissance 3.1 Poetry3.2 Drama3.3 Prose3.4 Literary Movements4. Critical Approaches 4.1 Historical Overview4.2 Key Issues and Debates5. Resources for Independent Study 5.1 Chronology of key historical and cultural events5.2 Glossary of key literary terms5.3 References and Further ReadingIndex