Beginning with a discussion of the political commonplaces in Elizabethan England, Talbert then focuses on the writings of Sir Thomas Smith, Richard Hooker, Sir Philip Sidney, and authors of seditious tracts and Elizabethan pageants. There emerges a process of thought that was conventional to Shakespeare's contemporaries and much more complex than that indicated by the Elizabethan "world-picture" alone. Originally published in 1962. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.