Any anthology challenges the reader ... But the real interest of this one, besides its provocative complexity, is the conjunction of the expected (like the passages on Bartholemew Fair) and the unexpected.
Jenny Uglow, TLS, 4 May 2001
fascinating selection of extracts
Jenny Uglow, TLS, 4 May 2001
The collection is packed with good things, and is the more interesting because of its unusual construction. Instead of following a thematic or subject approach, the extracts are grouped around particular historical moments between 1700 and 1780. ... If at first this feels limiting, it actually opens out each area.
Jenny Uglow, TLS 4 May 2001
The ripples of interest spread out beyond and behind the text, carried on the waves of commentary and annotation and suggestions for further reading.
Jenny Uglow, TLS 4 May 2001