Before Orientalism: London's Theatre of the East 1576-1626

Prelude: the cultural logistics of England's Eastern initiative Part I. Staging 'the East' in England: 1. 'The glorious empire of the Turks, the present terrour of the world' 2. Exotic persuasions in the playhouse: Tamburlaine the Great Antony and Cleopatra 3. Imperial poetics in royal and civic spectacle Interlude: imaging home and travel Part II. Inaugural Scenes in the Eastern Theatre: 4. Thomas Coryate and the invention of tourism 5. Sir Thomas Roe and the embassy to India, 1615-19 Afterword.