This volume introduces students to the most important figures, movements and trends in post-war British and Irish poetry. An historical overview and critical introduction to the poetry published in Britain and Ireland over the last half-centuryIntroduces students to figures including Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, and Andrew MotionTakes an integrative approach, emphasizing the complex negotiations between the British and Irish poetic traditions, and pulling together competing tendencies and positionsWritten by critics from Britain, Ireland, and the United StatesIncludes suggestions for further reading and a chronology, detailing the most important writers, volumes and events