A. L. Rowse, who died in 1997, was an historian and man of letters, poet, biographer, and essayist. He explored the British experience in more than twenty books, including major biographies of Shakespeare and Marlowe. He is also the author of The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Cultural Achievement.

The Elizabethan Renaissance is created in such brilliant color and clarity that the reader can never forget it.--Irving Stone