This reader-friendly study guide for beginning and intermediate undergraduates provides an overview of the Romantic period's authors, texts, and movements, as well as its historical, literary, and cultural contexts. It also covers contemporary critical trends since the 1960s and discusses changes to the canon and issues of sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity. One section is devoted to half-page and full-page profiles of 30 noted authors. Case studies offer close readings of individual works: literary texts by four authors (John Keats, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Cowper, and John Clare) and critical texts by six authors. A final chapter reflects on the current state of the field of Romantic scholarship and considers new directions. The book includes a timeline from 1776 to 1837, an extensive glossary with detailed entries, and a 20-page annotated bibliography separated into 19 categories. Chaplin specializes in Romanticism and Gothic studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. Faflak teaches English at the University of Western Ontario. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)