This work investigates the evolution of English literature from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 through the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. George Wiley Sherburn, a distinguished scholar of the period, provides a comprehensive analysis of the intellectual, social, and political currents that shaped the literary output of the era. By examining the transition from neoclassical ideals to the early stirrings of Romanticism, the text establishes a framework for understanding the development of the novel, satire, and poetry during this transformative century.

Experts recognize this volume as a foundational academic resource for students and scholars of eighteenth-century British literature. Readers frequently note the dense, scholarly nature of the prose, which provides a thorough and rigorous examination of the period's literary history.