Shipwrecks, gory battle scenes, cross-dressing, toxic relationships, abduction, torture (psychological and physical), comical country bumpkins, and, of course, love and poetry –Sir Philip Sidney’s witty pastoral romance The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia is the classic that has it all in terms of entertainment factors. Modern readers mostly know Arcadia in its complete ‘old’ version, but it is the New Arcadia (published in 1590) that was the most influential and most widely imitated literary text of the sixteenth century. While preserving the basic plot – a ruler attempts to escape an alarming oracle by moving his family to the countryside and engaging in shepherd-cosplay until the arrival of two foreign princes triggers a chain of events leading to the fulfilment of the oracle – this version adds further narrative strands and introduces ambitious revisions that showcase Sidney’s stylistic brilliance as a prose writer. -- .

"European Erotic Romance" examines the Renaissance publication and translation of the ancient Greek erotic romances, and English adaptations of the genre by Sir Philip Sidney, Shakespeare and Lady Mary Sidney Wroth.

Providing fresh insight into the development of the novel, this study identifies the politicization of erotic romance by the European philhellene (lovers of all things Greek) Protestant movement. To English translators and authors, the complex plots, well developed moralized characters (particularly female) and rhetorical styles of the ancient novels signify political and social reform.

Generous quotation and translations ensure that "European Erotic Romance" is accessible to a broad spectrum of readers. Its organisation lends itself to use as a course text. It is suitable for use by senior undergraduates and specialists in Renaissance literature, translation, rhetoric and history.