The third volume of The Pelican Guide to English Literature covers the period from John Donne to Andrew Marvell. It begins with a survey of the background to English Literature from 1603 to 1660, followed by a survey of the literature itself. The rest of the book is made up of a series of essays dealing in detail with Donne, the poems of Ben Jonson, Herbert and the devotional poems, the Cavalier poets, Milton, Marvell, Hobbes, Bunyan, and Cowley. In addition the volume contains an appendix of biographies and bibliographies.