This volume summarizes the latest scholarship on British women writers who lived from roughly 1500 to 1700. The 36 essays address women's roles in early modern society and their limited access to education and opportunities for writing; provide background for understanding the literary religious, historical, and social texts; give biographies of certain writers; list texts suitable for presentation in the undergraduate classroom; suggest models for lower-level surveys as well as semester-length graduate seminars; and detail the availability of primary sources. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)