This is a book about English Studies, aimed at all those who are taking English degrees, or teaching them. It gives a detailed account of the core of the discipline - the close reading of texts, contexts, and "intertexts". It also treats some of the major current issues within the discipline, such as the relationship between literature and history. It works through a series of fully developed applied examples, rather than by abstract exposition and exhortation. It is a reflective overview which constanlty exemplifies the practice it reflects upon.