This comprehensive anthology collects in one volume primary texts and documents relevant to literature, culture and intellectual life in England from 1550 to 1660. Through both well-known and forgotten texts that were influential at the time, the volume introduces controversies, ideas, and views on all areas of cultural interest in early modern England. Sections include:

* religion and theology
* politics and economics
* society
* education and humanism
* literary and cultural theories
* science and magic
* exploration and traffic.

Each section provides historical breadth, showing change and continuity. The English Renaissance enables students to compare the ideology, content and rhetorical strategies of 'literary' and 'aesthetic' texts with 'historical' or 'political' events and texts.