The Romantic Period was one of the most exciting periods in English literary history.This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the intellectual and cultural background to Romantic literature. Accessibly written and avoiding theoretical jargon, the author begins with two chapters that establish the broad historical and geographical coordinates of English Romanticism. The book then goes on to look at: the changing literary marketplace and so-called 'circulation revolution'the troubled territories of education and family life crucial developments in the natural sciences, religious controversies and the crisis of Anglicanism the emergence of a modern historical consciousness major trends in aesthetics and the visual arts Also accompanied by a detailed chronology and plentiful suggestions for further reading, this book provides a solid foundation for students to make their own sense of the poetry, fiction and other creative writing that emerged as part of the Romantic literary tradition.Robin Jarvis is Reader in the Department of English at the University of the West of England, Bristol.