The Victorian era was long enough to include surviving great Romantics such as Wordsworth and Landor, who died in 1850 and 1864 respectively, and to reach into the 20th century with Hardy, Meredith and many others. Its most essential representative remains Tennyson, who wrote in most poetic genres and metres, typified its inner crisis of belief, and in general is a much more complex figure than is often recognised. The Brownings, Arnold, Patmore, the Rossettis brother and sister, Swinburne, John Davidson, are all substantial figures, but the real strength of this book lies in the many unfamiliar poets included, most of them rewarding in their own right. The two remarkable women, aunt and niece, who wrote under the name "Michael Field" and whose poetry was much admired by Yeats, make a deserved return after long exile. A pity that the Meredith selection is limited to the Modern Love sonnet sequence and that Rossetti's most original poem, Jenny, is left out. Nevertheless, a courageous and scholarly selection overall.