The collection consists of about 50 pieces written by a broad range of different authors, from E.M.W. Tillyard and William Empson, who represent old style historicism and a version of new criticism respectively, to Stephen Greenblatt and Catherine Belsey, who respond to and refute the insights of their predecessors. The pieces are organised into categories of critical thought and introduced in clear and accessible language. Taken together, they chronicle a particularly stimulating period in the history of literary study.