John Dryden was England's most outstanding and controversial writer for the last four decades of the seventeenth century. He dominated the literary world as a satirist, a skilled and versatile dramatist, a pioneer of literary criticism, a writer of religious poetry, and an eloquent translator from the great classical poets. The present book discusses Dryden's career both chronologically and thematically, taking issue with his enemies' denigration of his integrity, and revealing him as a subtle, passionate and sceptical writer.

PAUL HAMMOND

Prologue - The Student and Civil Servant: 1631-1659 - The New Writer: 1660-1667 - The Dramatist: 1663-1685 - The Critic: 1668-1684 - The Political Writer: 1678-1685 - The Religious Writer: 1665-1687 - The Translator: 1680-1700 - Epilogue - Select Bibliography - Notes - Index