To mark the election of the 19th Poet Laureate we present a collection of the best - and in some cases the worst - of the Laureates work from Dryden to the present incumbent. Each poet is introduced by a short biography and review of his work as a poet and as Laureate, followed by a selection of their poems taken from the entirety of their work. The book is introduced with an essay by the new Laureate (tbc). John Dryden 1631-1700 Thomas Shadwell 1642-1692 Nahum Tate 1652-1715 Nicholas Rowe 1674-1718 Laurence Eusden 1688-1730 Colley Cibber 1671-1757 William Whitehead 1715-1785 Thomas Warton 1728-1790 Henry Pye 1745-1813 Robert Southey 1774-1843 William Wordsworth 1770-1850 Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809-1892 Alfred Austin 1835-1913 Robert Bridges 1844-1930 John Masefield 1878-1967 C. Day Lewis 1904-1972 Sir John Betjeman 1906-1884 Ted Hughes 1930-1998 Andrew Motion 1999 The book will be introduced by a popular essay which would look at where the post comes from; how laureates are appointed; what are their duties; who were good poets and who were bad; what challenges the present post brings with it etc. We will issue a tape of selected poems - read by Bill Paterson, Tim Pigott-Smith and Juliet Stevenson - in the same livery as the book.