Hamlet's Moment

András Kiséry is Associate Professor of English at The City College of New York (CUNY). He is co-editor of Formal Matters: Reading the Materials of English Renaissance Literature (Manchester University Press, 2013). He has published articles about early modern English literature in the contexts of political culture and the history of the book in European Journal of English Studies, Philological Quarterly, and English Literary History. He is writing a book about the influence of the national and international topographies of the book-trade on the production and reception of early modern English writing called 'Books, Space, and English Literature'.

• Introduction: Hamlet's MomentPart I: Hamlet and the Profession of Politics1: 'The Wiser Sort': The Distinction of Politics and Gabriel Harvey's Machiavellian Hamlet2: Some Travellers Return: Diplomatic Writing, Political Careers, and the World of Hamlet3: 'I Lack Advancement': Political Agents and Political Servants in Hamlet's MomentPart II: Political Knowledge and the Public Stage in Hamlet's Moment4: 'Vile and Vulgar Admirations': Chapman and the Public of Political News5: 'The Most Matter with Best Conceyt': The Publics of Tacitean Observation and the Margins of Politics in Jonson's Sejanus6: 'For Discourse's Sake Merely': Political Conversation on the Stage and OffBibliography

A particularly appealing feature of Kiséry's writing is his generous sign posting and cross-referencing, which skillfully guide the readers' attention to subtle details and connections. Despite the occasional lengthy sentences, Kiséry's book is written in a lively, often entertaining, sometimes even ironic, but always lucid academic prose. ... For anyone who is interested in early modern political thought and practice, print and manuscript culture, and, above all, drama, it is worth following Kiséry on his journey with these ambassadors.