History Of English Literature

This survey follows English writing from its earliest Anglo-Saxon beginnings through the major periods that shaped it, among them the Elizabethan age, the Restoration and the Victorian era. The author looks at the leading authors, poets and dramatists, and at how literary movements grew out of the social conditions of their times. The book also explains how prose fiction, stage drama and the Romantic poets rose to prominence. Intended both as a reference for students and as a readable account for general readers, it condenses centuries of writing into a single sequence of periods and figures, showing how the language and culture of Britain changed over time.