A History of English Literature

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Acknowledgements

Having decided the scope of this history, and that it would be narrative but also crit-
ical, the task of selection imposed itself. In order to sharpen my focus, I then invited
at a preliminary stage twenty university teachers of English literature, each to send
me a list of the twenty works which they believed would have to receive critical
discussion in such a history. Some of those who replied evaded my razor by includ-
ing Collected Works in their list. But I thank them all. I have a much longer list of
colleagues to thank for answering more scholarly queries. I name only Michael
Herbert, George Jack, Christopher MacLachlan, Rhiannon Purdie and Michael
Wheeler, who each read a chapter for me, as did Neil Rhodes, to whom I turned for
advice more than once.
Thanks also to Frances Arnold and Margaret Bartley at Palgrave Macmillan, who
invited me to write this book; I enjoyed the reading, and the rereading. Thanks to
Houri Alavi, who patiently shepherded the monster forward into the arena. Thanks
most of all to my family, especially to Mary and Lucy for reading many pages, and
for listening.
The book itself is also a kind of thanks – to those who wrote what is now called
English Literature; to scholars, editors, critics; to the excellent English teachers I had
at Downside School; to fellow-students of literature, especially at Stirling and St
Andrews;to all from whom I have learned. I am most grateful to Professors Helen
Cooper (Cambridge), Patrick McCarthy (Santa Barbara) and Philip Smallwood
(Central England), and to Mr Adrian Papahagi of the Ecole Normale Supérieur,
Paris, for corrections. I shall be grateful to any reader who draws to my attention any
errors of fact.

The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce
copyright material:

Aitken Alexander Associates for an extract on p. 376 from ‘In Westminster Abbey’,
Copyright © John Betjeman by permission of The Estate of John Betjeman, and
John Murray (Publishers) for an extract from ‘In Westminster Abbey’ from Collected
Poems, by John Betjeman © The Estate of John Betjeman 1955, 1958, 1962, 1964,
1968,1970, 1979, 1981, 1982, 2001. Reproduced by permission of John Murray
(Publishers).
Curtis Brown Group Ltd for an extract on pp. 376–7 from the speech ‘This was their
finest hour’. Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown, London on behalf of the
Estate of Sir Winston Churchill. Copyright © Winston S. Churchill.

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