What was the purpose of representing foreign lands for writers in the English Renaissance? This study argues that writers often used their works as vehicles to reflect on the state of contemporary English politics, particularly their own lack of representation in public institutions.

Preface ; Introduction: Changing Places in Renaissance Literature ; Chapter One: 'How harmful be the errors of princes': English Travellers in Europe, 1545-1620 ; Chapter Two: 'What is the Matter with you Christian Men?': English Colonial Literature, 1555-1625 ; Chapter Three: 'The perfect glass of state': English Fiction from William Baldwin to John Brady, 1553-1625 ; Chapter Four: 'All my travels history': Reading the Locations of Renaissance Plays ; Afterword ; Bibliography ; Index

`The ideas raised by Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing are both interesting and challenging - and not infrequently radical in their questioning of received thinking. ...an especially important contribution to the interpretation of Renaissance travel writings and concepts of place. ... There is an unmistakably optimistic sense in Hadfield's speculative arguments that the linking of so-called 'travel' writings with works of creative fiction will prove to be one of the most productive critical and historical perspectives of the last two decades.' Michael G. Brennan, September 2000. `an especially important contribution to the interpretation of Renaissance travel writing and concepts of place ... Hadfield's sheer range of primary references provides a secure foundation for his empirical investigations.' Michael G. Brennan, Notes and Queries, Vol.47, No.3, Sept. 2000. `There is an unmistakably optimistic sense in Hanfield's speculative arguments that the linking of so-called 'travel' writings with works of creative fiction will prove to be one of the most productive critical and historical perspectives of the last two decades.' Michael G. Brennan, Notes and Queries, Vol.47, No.3, Sept. 2000. `Hadfield here turns to travel and colonial writing, which he examines both for its intrinsic value and importance as well as for its influence on early English prose fiction and Renaissance plays. Through covering material that has been the subject of much scholarly attention, Hadfield's study is important both for the special focus he brings to this area and for the breadth of its research.' Robert Boerth, Sixteenth Century Journal XXXI/3, 2000. `Hadfield's ... overarching argument - that foreign locales furnished Renaissance writers with a fertile, shifting ground upon which to consider and comment upon the state of England - is both forceful and productive ... Hadfield effectively calls for us to reconsider some texts, writers and genres to which we have not devoted sufficient critical attention.' Robert Boerth, Sixteenth Century Journal XXXI/3, 2000. `Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing is an ambitious and nuanced treatment of a genre - travel writing - that was coming into being in the early modern period. Its strength lies in its willingness to extend itself among the many discourses that were being folded into this genre or that had implications for it. In his rewarding book Handfield shows us just how 'multiple' the intellecutual and politcal 'contexts' for early modern travel were and consistently juxtaposes those contexts with travel accounts in a way that brings their import home.' Thomas F. Mayer, Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXI/2. 00. `He ... can make these traveler's tales meaningful in ways that probably haven't been appreciated since they were first published. Even the usual stuff of travel writing in this period - the lists of places visited, the detailed renderings of sights seen - becomes newly significant.' Thomas F. Mayer, Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXI/2. 00. `Hadfield is especially good at sketching in the intellectual background that these travellers brought with them and in bringing out the republican overtones of their accounts.' Thomas F. Mayer, Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXI/2. 00. `This important and timely book brings a new expansiveness and sophistication to its field.' David J. Baker, Shakespeard Quarterly.

* Explores representations of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East in a wide-ranging and innovative study of English travel writing * Redresses the neglected area of Renaissance travel and colonialism * Utilizes postcolonial and other modern forms of theory in new ways and scenes

* Explores representations of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East in a wide-ranging and innovative study of English travel writing * Redresses the neglected area of Renaissance travel and colonialism * Utilizes postcolonial and other modern forms of theory in new ways and scenes