Martin Butler is Professor of English Renaissance Drama at the University of Leeds.

• Introduction; 1. Spectacles of state; 2. Rites of exclusion; 3. Rites of incorporation; 4. The invention of Britain; 5. The consort's body; 6. The revival of chivalry; 7. The dance of favour; 8. The Jacobean crisis; 9. The Caroline Reformation; 10. The Caroline crisis; Appendix: A calendar of masques and entertainments, 1603–41.

'… this book is so learned and teacherly at the same time - its panoply of historical discoveries and literary insights conveyed in such pleasurably readable prose - that it is hard to ask it for more. Butler writes in his introduction that 'It goes without saying that masques were complex events'. Alas, in masque criticism, this does not yet go without saying. Perhaps after this book, it will.' Lauren Shohet, Villanova University

Martin Butler is Professor of English Renaissance Drama at the University of Leeds.

• Introduction; 1. Spectacles of state; 2. Rites of exclusion; 3. Rites of incorporation; 4. The invention of Britain; 5. The consort's body; 6. The revival of chivalry; 7. The dance of favour; 8. The Jacobean crisis; 9. The Caroline Reformation; 10. The Caroline crisis; Appendix: A calendar of masques and entertainments, 1603–41.

'… this book is so learned and teacherly at the same time - its panoply of historical discoveries and literary insights conveyed in such pleasurably readable prose - that it is hard to ask it for more. Butler writes in his introduction that 'It goes without saying that masques were complex events'. Alas, in masque criticism, this does not yet go without saying. Perhaps after this book, it will.' Lauren Shohet, Villanova University

Martin Butler is Professor of English Renaissance Drama at the University of Leeds.

• Introduction; 1. Spectacles of state; 2. Rites of exclusion; 3. Rites of incorporation; 4. The invention of Britain; 5. The consort's body; 6. The revival of chivalry; 7. The dance of favour; 8. The Jacobean crisis; 9. The Caroline Reformation; 10. The Caroline crisis; Appendix: A calendar of masques and entertainments, 1603–41.

'… this book is so learned and teacherly at the same time - its panoply of historical discoveries and literary insights conveyed in such pleasurably readable prose - that it is hard to ask it for more. Butler writes in his introduction that 'It goes without saying that masques were complex events'. Alas, in masque criticism, this does not yet go without saying. Perhaps after this book, it will.' Lauren Shohet, Villanova University