THE OXFORD ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

THE OXFORD ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURETHE OXFORD ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

Edited by Pat Rogers

Britain possesses a literary heritage which is almost unrivalled in the Western world. In this lavishly illustrated volume, the richness, diversity, and continuity of that tradition are explored by a group of Britain's foremost literary scholars.
Chapter by chapter the authors trace the history of English literature, from its first stirrings in Anglo-Saxon poetry to the present day. At its heart towers the figure of Shakespeare, who is accorded a special chapter to himself. Other major figures such as Chaucer, Milton, Donne, Wordsworth, Dickens, Eliot, and Auden are treated in depth, and the story is brought right up to date with discussion of living authors such as Seamus Heaney and Edward Bond.
The profuse illustrations were chosen by the contributors to exemplify and bring to life the content and concerns of the text. They range in subject from manuscripts and book illustrations to works of art and architecture, portraits, social scenes, landscapes, and caricatures, and illuminate not merely the material of literature but also additional aspects of our literary history— social, political, and personal.
The contributors—all experts in their chosen areas—have succeeded in weaving together the complex strands of English literature into a highly readable narrative, accessible to the general reader and the student alike.