Dragon's Teeth: Literature in the English Revolution

"Books," wrote Milton, "are like dragon's teeth that spring up armed men." This study looks at some of the armed men that Milton, Marvell, Browne, and Butler sent off to fight, reading a series of 17th-century literary texts against the historical and political backdrop of the English Revolution. Confronting the formalist taboo on historical and political context, Wilding provides many challenging new readings, exploring issues of war and peace, of economic exploitation, social repression and the radical politics of the Levellers and Diggers. The issues that resulted in revolution three centuries ago are still relevant today, as Wilding persuasively demonstrates in a collection that will interest scholars and students of English literature, history, and political science.