This was evidently written as a textbook, but don't let that discourage you. If you love the writing of British Restoration era and the Eighteenth Century, you'll want to read this book, which covers the periods of 1660 up to 1800. You will learn about styles of writing, about money, manners and monarchs, about life and politics as theater, about family relations including marriage and mistresses, about scandals and nervous disorders and dealing with death. You'll find excerpts from Alexander Pope, Mary Astrey's "Some Reflections upon Marriage," Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels, and Daniel Defoe's "The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe." The book is a delight.