This work investigates the cultural, political, and intellectual shifts that defined the literary output of seventeenth-century England. C. V. Wedgwood, a distinguished historian of the period, utilizes her expertise in the Stuart era to contextualize the transition from the Elizabethan legacy to the Restoration. She argues that the literature of this century serves as a primary record of the profound social upheavals, including the Civil War and the rise of scientific inquiry, that reshaped the English consciousness.

Scholars and students of the period frequently cite this text as a reliable, concise introduction to the intersection of history and literature. Readers often note the clarity of the prose, which makes complex historical developments accessible to those new to the subject matter.