"This volume focuses on the relationship between writing and public concerns in seventeenth-century England before, during, and after the civil wars and revolution of the mid-century. The contributors represent a variety of disciplines - political scientists, social and political historians, and literary critics. They share a concern with the relationship between the act of writing and the political and public issues of this extraordinary period. The essays suggest that in the seventeenth century the private and public intersected so thoroughly that ostensibly "private" writing was engaged with public issues and public rhetoric, while on the other hand, political writing was deeply involved with questions of style and inward conscience. This volume illuminates the complex issues of "public" and "private," "art" and "conscience" in the period."--Jacket.