Eighteenth-Century English Literature, 1660-1789

Associate professor of English Sussman explores cultural developments in relation to well-known works by such authors as Defoe, Swift, Pope, Richardson, Gray and Sterne, while also bringing attention to less familiar figures, such as Charlotte Smith, Mary Leapor and Olaudah Equiano.

This engaging book introduces new readers of eighteenth-century texts to some of the major works, authors, and debates of a key period of literary history. Rather than simply providing a chronological survey of the era, this book analyzes the impact of significant cultural developments on literary themes and forms—including urbanization, colonial, and mercantile expansion, the emergence of the "public sphere," and changes in sex and gender roles.