The book is part of the Open University course AA305 'Renaissance in Europe: a cultural enquiry'. The course books were published by Yale University Press. Two other coursebooks, an anthology and a reader form the complete set. Now discontinued (unfortunately), the whole course (with this book) was most useful to get a global perspective on Renaissance, instead of the usual Italian focus. The perspective includes the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Hungary and Germany, with various set books by Montaigne, Machiavelli ('The Prince'), Burckhardt (civilization), Cole (Italian Art), Shakespeare ('The Merchant of Venice'), Rowley/Dekker and Ford (The Witch of Edmonton), Norbrook ('Renaissance Verse'), with added extract from Castiglione, Valla, Erasmus, More, 'Lazarillo de Tormes', Pico della Mirandolla, etc. This first book should not be read without the rest of the course material and its notes, otherwise you will lose on the text analysis and references.

It is highly recommended for undergraduate students of English and History with a strong interest on the issues of the time in Europe. A definite must for any serious library! ( )