'Smyth's arguments are persuasive, blending methods from both history and literary criticism to produce an elegantly written, meticulously research[ed] book. It will be essential reading for historians of early modern England.' History Today '… persuasive and fascinating … Bringing the eye of a literary critic to bear on materials that have conventionally been assigned to historians, Smyth is wonderfully lucid ... Read moreand comprehensive in his exploration of both historical and literary dimensions … this is a book of substantial theoretical sophistication, and also of considerable charm. Smyth writes with style, and with a splendid eye for the telling detail and the wittily placed illustrative quotation. His enthusiasm for these marginal and obscure stories makes this book not only an outstanding contribution to debates on life-writing and the history of subjectivity, but a genuinely delightful read.' Katharine Hodgkin, The English Historical Review '… where Smyth truly triumphs is in the care and sensitivity with which he describes his archival material … Full of warmth, humour, and a humane inquisitiveness, such acts of close reading lie at the heart of Smyth's book, and the delicacy with which they are elaborated belies the daunting archival expertise upon which they rely. No student of early modern culture will fail to be moved by them … magisterial and surely unrivalled … [this book] deserves a wide and appreciative audience.' Andrea Walkden, Renaissance Quarterly Show Less