The third set in the series, The Year's Work in English Studies, Volume 78 edited by Peter Kitson, and The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, Volume 7 edited by Kate McGowan, aims to provide comprehensive, narrative bibliographical coverage of the best work in their respective fields in a given year. In this instance, the two volumes cover work for the year 1997.

This volume offers a comprehensive selection of contemporary criticism of three great Romantic poets, ranging from traditional literary scholarship through historicist, feminist, structuralist and poststructuralist readings. Kitson's substantial introduction situates the essays in the general context of the development of critical writing about Romanticism over the last four decades and the volume provides an excellent overview of the current, vibrant state of Romantic studies and some of the exciting ways in which contemporary criticism is developing.