The Persian Empire in English Renaissance Writing, 1549-1622 studies the conception of Persia in the literary, political and pedagogic writings of Renaissance England and Britain. It argues that writers of all kinds debated the means and merits of English empire through their intellectual engagement with the ancient Persian empire.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Reading Persia in Renaissance England 1. Classical Persia: Making Kings and Empires 2. Romance Persia: 'Nourse of Pompous Pride' 3. Staging Persia: 'To ride in triumph through Persepolis' 4. Sherley Persia: 'Agible things' Epilogue: Ormuz Bibliography

Jane Grogan is a Lecturer in Renaissance Literature at the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin, Ireland. She is the author of Exemplary Spenser (2009; winner of the Isabel MacCaffrey prize) and the editor of Celebrating Mutabilitie: Essays on Edmund Spenser's Mutabilitie Cantos (2010) and several journal articles.