The Faerie Queene is one of the great seminal masterpieces of English literature, and has influenced, inspired, and challenged generations of writers, readers and scholars since its completion in 1596. Hamilton' s widely acclaimed annotated work, Spenser' s Faerie Queene, has now been completely updated. This revised second edition also includes a newly edited version of the original text, produced by Hiroshi Yamashita and Toshiyuki Suzuki, which is widely considered as the new standard text. The poem has been freshly annotated throughout, as has the additional original material which includes a chronology, a letter to Raleigh, commendatory verses, and dedicatory sonnets. The second edition of Spenser' s Faerie Queene provides exceptionally full and careful annotation, detailed guidance to critical comment and sets the poem in its full historical and literary context. A list of characters and their appearances has also been compiled by Shohachi Fukuda