A History of English Literature

Book of Middle English,3rdEdition, copyright © 2004, reproduced with permission ofBlackwell Publishing Ltd (2004); The Bridgeman ...

Preface to the First Edition This Historyis written for two audiences: those who know a few landmark texts of English literature ...

Preface to the Second Edition The first edition was published in 2000. Each year a reprint has allowed minor corrections and add ...

Preface to the Third Edition The second edition of this Historyappeared in 2007. In preparing this third edition I scrapped the ...

Abbreviations ? uncertain ASC Anglo-Saxon Chronicle AV Authorized Version of the Bible Anon. anonymous b. born BCP Book of Commo ...

The chief glory of every people arises from its authours: whether I shall add any thing by my own writings to the reputation of ...

Why literary history? Literary history can be useful and the need for it becomes greater. English teachers teach single works, s ...

the reading public eventually has the last word. Good writing, of whatever date, remains contemporary. ‘The pen is mightier than ...

Scope: English, British, English A book which means to do something definite defines its scope. The subject- matter of this book ...

Clarence Mangan, would be shouldered out by English worthies, not to mention the native literature of Saunders Lewis, Sorley Mac ...

reason for being discussed, it is a reason which would apply to William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Patrick Whit ...

breathe and eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.’ The belief that literature outlives the circumstan ...

Reformation, and the new nation-state, English drew ahead of Latin for most purposes, and literature became nationalist. The Eng ...

The priorities of a history may be deduced from its allocation of space. Yet space has also to be given to the historically symp ...

The Cambridge Companions to Literature (1986– ). Uneven, but most can be recommended. Each Companionhas specially written essays ...

Medieval PART I ...

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Overview The Angles and Saxons conquered what is now called England in the 5th and 6th centuries. In the 7th century, Christian ...

And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England’s pleasant pastu ...

Augustine of Canterbury that he needed a written law-code; it was written with the Roman alphabet. The peoples to be called the ...