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the cambridge history of ENGLISH ROMANTIC LITERATURE The Romantic period was one of the most creative, intense and turbulent periods of English literature, an age marked by revolution, reaction and reform in politics, and by the invention of imaginative literature in its distinctively modern form. This History presents an engaging account of six decades of literary production around the turn of the nineteenth century. Reflecting the most up-to-date research, the essays are designed both to provide a narrative of Romantic literature, and to offer new and stimulating readings of the key texts. One group of essays addresses the various locations of literary activity – both in England and, as writers developed their interests in travel and foreign cultures, across the world. A second set of essays traces how texts responded to great historical and social change. With a comprehensive bibliography, chronology and index, this volume will be an important resource for research and teaching in the field. J a m e s C h a n d l e r is Barbara E. and Richard J. Franke Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Franke Institute for the Humanities at the University of Chicago. He is the General Editor of Cambridge Studies in Romanticism and has written and edited many books in the field, including Romantic Metropolis: The Urban Scene in British Romanticism, 1780–1840 (editor, with Kevin Gilmartin, Cambridge, 2005) and The Cambridge Companion to Romantic Poetry (editor, with Maureen N. McLane, 2008). Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 the new cambridge history of ENGLISH LITERATURE The New Cambridge History of English Literature is a programme of reference works designed to offer a board synthesis and contextual survey of the history of English literature through the major periods of its development. The organisation of each volume reflects the particular characteristics of the period covered, within a general commitment to providing an accessible narrative history through a linked sequence of essays by internationally renowned scholars. The History is designed to accommodate the range of insights and fresh perspectives brought by new approaches to the subjects, without losing sight of the need for essential exposition and information. The volumes include valuable reference features, in the form of a chronology of literary and political events, extensive primary and secondary bibliographies and a full index. The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature edited by david wallace The Cambridge History of Early Modern English Literature edited by david loewenstein and janel mueller The Cambridge History of English Literature 1660–1780 edited by john richetti The Cambridge History of English Romantic Literature edited by james chandler The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century English Literature edited by laura marcus and peter nicholls IN PREPARATION The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature edited by kate flint Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH ROMANTIC LITERATURE * Edited by JAMES CHAN DLE R Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, S~ao Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge c b 2 8 r u , u k Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521790079 ª Cambridge University Press 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions o