"In this complex, wide-ranging, and idiosyncratic study, Jeffrey Knapp sets out to disprove the venerable notion that the unparalleled brilliance of England's literary renaissance not only reflected the vision of empire engendered by the discovery of the New World but also drew its inspiration largely from it. . . . [A] remarkable book." --Arthur Ferguson, American Historical Review "Central to an understanding of how early-modern Englishmen conceived of themselves and their place in the world, and equally central to an understanding of what they actually accomplished, both in literature and in overseas expansion." --Richard Helgerson, Albion "[A] learned and ingenious book. . . . Knapp's fertile mind finds contradictions everywhere, and often in ways that enrich our conception of what poetry was for the Renaissance." --Lawrence Lerner, The Times Higher Education Supplement "Among the new Renaissance cultural historians, Knapp is clearly a star. This book is subtle and forceful, and though it is thoroughly conversant with current critical methodology, it is also startlingly original, and indeed full of wonderful surprises. Sets a standard for work in the field." --Stephen Orgel, author of The Illusion of Power