In any time or place literature is often influenced by concepts such as politics, society, philosophy, and in the true Puritan and Anglican fashion, spirituality and the Bible. It is this influence which Edward Dowden has cleverly critiqued.

In his foreword, he writes, "Literature, however, and especially what is most valuable in the seventeenth-century cannot be studied without reference to the history of religion." Which is why, although the seventeenth-century held famous writers like Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, Dowden has selected prominent writers whose works were inspired by religion.

In this book, Dowden critiques works of writers such as; Sir Thomas Browne, Richard Hooker, John Milton, Herbert and Vaughn (Anglo-Catholic poets), Jeremy Taylor, John Bunyan and Samuel Butler. It also features a chapter on the transition into the 18th century.

Dowden is a master critic, and this book is perfect for any student or hobbyist reader of renaissance literature.