Summary of A Short History of English Literature

A Short History of English Literature provides an accessible introduction to the major authors and genres of English literature from its beginnings to the present day. Beginning with Old English literature in the 8th century, the book moves chronologically through the Anglo Saxon period, Middle English, and early modern English works up to the present day. Along the way, it discusses the major authors, poets, playwrights, and novelists from the Elizabethan period to Romanticism to the 20th century and beyond. Each chapter highlights the library of masterpieces that have shaped the English literary tradition, including works by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Virginia Woolf. In describing the development of English literature, the book emphasizes major movements and changes over time, such as the broadening themes, the rise of Romanticism, the advent of the novel, and the impact of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot in ushering in the modernist period. It also highlights the rise of women authors, African-American authors, and other diverse voices that have broadened understandings of literature.