A History of English Literature

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.

xiv

Alexander Prelims 16/11/12 2:19 pm Page xiv