A History Of English Literature

About A History of English Literature

A History of English Literature is a survey title for students and readers who want to understand how writing in English developed over more than a thousand years. If you are searching for a history of english literature to support your reading for a BA, MA, B.Ed or competitive exam, or simply to understand the great names behind the books you love, this is the kind of book that gives you the map before you walk the territory. Please message us on WhatsApp at 9906523492 for details of the copy in stock, including the author, publisher and edition.

Every course in English begins with the same question: how did we get from the earliest poems to the novels, plays and poetry of today? A good history of english literature answers it period by period, linking writers to the society, language and ideas of their age.

What a history of english literature usually covers

Standard accounts of the subject move through a familiar sequence of periods, and this is the framework students are expected to know:

• Old English (about 450 to 1066): an oral and heroic tradition, with Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and early poets such as Caedmon and writers such as Bede
• Middle English (1066 to the late fifteenth century): the age after the Norman Conquest, with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Langland, the Pearl Poet and Malory
• The Renaissance and Elizabethan age: Spenser, Sidney, Marlowe, Donne, Jonson, Milton and above all Shakespeare
• The Restoration and the eighteenth century: Dryden, Bunyan, Pope, Swift, Defoe, Johnson and the rise of the novel
• The Romantic period: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats and Scott
• The Victorian age: Dickens, Thackeray, the Bronte sisters, Gaskell, Trollope and the great Victorian novel
• The modern period and after: the break with tradition, new forms of poetry, fiction and drama

The exact chapters, depth and emphasis differ from one author to another, so ask us about the contents of the copy in stock.

Why study the history of english literature in order

Literature does not appear out of nowhere. The language of Beowulf is very far from the language of Shakespeare, and Shakespeare’s world is far from that of Dickens. When you read in chronological order you see how the printing press, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution and the spread of education each changed what writers wrote and who read them. You also see how movements react to each other: the order and wit of the eighteenth century gave way to the feeling and imagination of the Romantics, and the Romantics in turn were followed by the social concern of the Victorian novelists.

This sense of connection is exactly what examiners look for. A student who can place a poet in his period, name his contemporaries and explain what he was reacting against will write a far stronger answer than one who has only memorised a list of titles.

Who should read this book

• Undergraduate and postgraduate students of English at colleges and universities in Kashmir and across India
• B.Ed trainees and teachers of English who need a sound background in the subject
• Candidates preparing for NET, SET, JKSSB and other exams with an English literature component
• Readers who enjoy classics and want to know where each author belongs
• Parents and mentors building a home library for a young student of English

How to get the most from a literary history

Do not try to read it like a novel from cover to cover in a week. Read one period at a time, and then read at least one primary text from that period: a Shakespeare play, a selection of Wordsworth, a Dickens novel or a short Victorian poem. Make a one-page timeline for each age with the main writers, their key works and the major events of the time. Revise by writing short notes in your own words, and test yourself by trying to name three works and two ideas that define each period. Reading the history alongside the text is the surest way to remember both.

Using it for exam preparation

For university papers and competitive exams, a history of english literature serves as a quick reference for authors, works, dates and movements. Use it to build revision notes, to check which writer belongs to which age, and to understand the terms that appear again and again: epic, sonnet, satire, the picaresque novel, the Gothic, Romanticism and Realism. Remember that no single book can guarantee any result; steady reading, writing practice and revision are what make the difference.

Edition details

Title: A History of English Literature. Subject: English literature, a period-by-period survey. For the author, publisher, year of publication and number of pages of the copy in stock, please message us on WhatsApp at 9906523492. Same-day dispatch from Srinagar. Delivery takes about 1 day in Srinagar and 3 to 10 days across the rest of India. Lafz Bookstore has one of the largest online collections of school, college, exam and Kashmir books.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a book for college students? Yes, a history of english literature is mainly used by students of English at the college and university level, as well as by exam aspirants and general readers.

Does it cover all periods from Old English to modern times? Standard surveys do; for the exact range of the copy in stock, please ask us.

Is it in English? Yes.

How quickly will it reach me? We dispatch the same day from Srinagar. Delivery is about 1 day in Srinagar and 3 to 10 days in the rest of India.

Can I know the publisher and edition before buying? Of course, just message us and we will confirm the copy we have.

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