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This handsome book is a wonderful introduction to poetry from the earliest times, and from many cultures. The sections are in chronological order, but rather than demarcating them in the usual fashion through dates, the author John Carey has given them much more interesting names. For example, Copernicus in Poetry, The Great Escapist, and Fatal Attractions.

The poets featured each enjoy a potted biography that places them and their work in the context of the time. Extracts rather than whole poems are presented, and this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. They whet the appetite and so encourage the reader to seek out the whole work. On the other hand, it’s somewhat frustrating to have only samples.

Although the book is very comprehensive, it’s disappointing that Lovelace and the Liverpool poets, such as McGough, have been omitted. Nevertheless, as an introduction to a wide range of poetry this could hardly be bettered.

This review first appeared in Teach Secondary magazine.

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