Michael Schmidt is the founder and editorial director of Carcanet Press, publisher of poetry and fiction. He is the editor of PN Review, which he established in 1972, and director of the Writing School at Manchester University.
'No journey can be made without the aid of a dependable map. Poet and publisher Michael Schmidt has provided a good one for the entire history of English poetry in this enormous doorstop ... the book manages to combine a good deal of sound judgement with readability, enlivened by sprinklings of humour' * The Tablet * 'British poetry owes a great debt of gratitude to Michael Schmidt' -- Ruth Padel 'A massive achievement' -- Michael Hofmann 'A masterly exercise of cogency and compression' * TLS * 'A seductive masterpiece' * Sunday Times * 'A celebration of poetry in the shape of a history from Chaucer up to the present day' * Scotsman *