The Broadview Anthology of British Satire, 1660-1750

Book excerpt: The Broadview Anthology of British Satire, 1660-1750 provides instructors and students with a thorough introduction to the highpoint of British literary satire. Reflecting current pedagogical practice and scholarship, the anthology presents works by thirty satirists, including eleven women. The contents are expansive: they include canonical, frequently taught texts, less anthologized works by major satirists, and works by writers who have been traditionally excluded from anthologies. Biographical headnotes, crisp footnotes, and carefully edited texts make the book suitable for use in both undergraduate and graduate classrooms. By turns raucous, piercing, acerbic, winking, vexatious, and sly, the satires in the anthology will provoke fresh, dynamic approaches to this crucial literary period.