During Shakespeare's lifetime, John Lyly was repeatedly described as the central figure in contemporary English literature. This book takes that claim seriously, asking how and why Lyly was considered the most important writer of his time.

Andy Kesson is a Senior Lecturer in Renaissance Literature at the University of Roehampton

Acknowledgements
Introduction: our Lyly?
Part one: Lyly and prose fiction
1. Buy the book: imaginative stories in the book market (1566-1578)
2. Euph culture: Lyly, Euphues and the market for single-story books (1578-1594)
Part two: Lyly, performance and print
3. 'Whatsoever we present': Lyly's elusive theatre (1583-c.1590)
4. 'This is the first': creating a market for printed plays (1584-1594)
Part three: euphuism and reception
5. A hopeless Romantic? Lyly, euphuism and a history of non-reading (1632-1905)
Conclusion: go dare
Bibliography
Index