The seventeenth century was a period of immense turmoil. This book explores the methods by which a distinctive iconography was created for each Stuart king, describes the cultural life of the Civil War period and the Cromwellian Protectorate, and analyses the impact of the antiquarian movement which constructed a new sense of national identity. Through this detailed and fascinating discussion of seventeenth-century society, Graham Parry provides a clear insight into the many forces operating on the literature of the period.

Part 1: the character of Jacobean kingship, 1603-25 1. The iconography of Charles I, 1625-49 2. The arts in Stuart England 3. Biography - Sir Henry Wotton, Lady Anne Clifford 4. Cultural life during the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth, 1642-5 5. The Restoration ethos, 1660-88 6. Biography - John Evelyn Part 2: the scientific milieu 7.Biography - Sir Kenelm Digby 8. Antiquarianism - the relevance of the past 9. Varieties of religious experience 10. Biography - Sir Thomas Browne, Richard Baxter 11. Political theory 12. Postscript

Graham Parry is Professor of English and Related Literature at the University of York, UK.