Archipelagic English
Literature, History, and Politics 1603-1707
John Kerrigan
Reviews and Awards
"It is a work of prodigious scholarship, engagement and memory." - Milton Quarterly
"Archipelagic English presents a rare and compelling combination of acute and extensive historical analysis with scrupulous and sensitive close reading" - Philip Schwyzer, Textual Practice
"This is a commanding, scholarly tome, and a hugely impressive achievement" - Forum for Modern Language Studies
"The geographical sophistication of Kerrigan's criticism...is a benchmark for all to aspire to and makes this an important book for historical geographers as well as critics" - Robert Mayhew, Journal of Historical Geography
"brilliant...It gives superb new readings of well-familiar works such as Macbeth" - Declan Kiberd, Irish Times
"important and deeply researched... As a dense literary and political prehistory of the puzzles in national and cultural identity ... Archipelagic English can't be beaten" - Michael Dobson, London Review of Books
"His purpose, triumphantly achieved, is to review and ruminate on the variety of literary responses to the awkward conglomerate of the Stuart monarchy... [This is a] remarkable investigation." - Toby Barnard, Times Literary Supplement
"Kerrigan constructs an impressively wide-ranging vision of an early modern Britain filtered through achipelago prisms" - Notes and Queries
"A major work of scholarship and literary criticism that opens up numerous avenues for others to follow" - Andrew Hadfield, Review of English Studies
"Kerrigan is a scrupulous and careful scholar [who provides] subtle, informed explorations of key writers and text. ... Although this book will be too dense and learned ... for some general readers, it is an important one..." - Nicholas Murray. The Independent.
"Kerrigan has produced a vast, deeply researched book of challenging complexity that, in effect, attempts to found a new discipline...I admire Kerrigan's book as a critical tour de force" - Graham Parry, The Guardian
"both tour d'horizon and tour de force...no question, we will be using Kerrigan's book for a long time." - Derek Hirst, Journal of British Studies
"prodigious...In its complexity, nuance, and scope, Archipelagic English is an exhilarating tour de force of comparative criticism. It not only realises, but exceeds, the intellectual ambitions of 'British' literary criticism, and does so more fully than any other book we now have or are likely to have any time soon." - David Baker, English Historical Review
"[a] rich and remarkable study...packed with information and insight" - David Norbrook, Literary Review
