Andrew Marvell (1621-78) is best known to us as the author of a handful of exquisite lyrics and provocative political poems. In his own time, however, Marvell was famous for his brilliant prose interventions in the major issues of the Restoration, religious toleration and what he called arbitrary as distinct from parliamentary government. This is a modern edition of all Marvell’s prose pamphlets, complete with introductions and annotation explaining the historical context. with tacit permission from Charles II himself to the documentary Account of the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government, Marvell established himself not only as a model of liberal thought for the 18th century but also as an irresistible new voice in political polemic – and he was wittier, more literary and hence more readable than his contemporaries.

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