A History of English Literature

by Peter Quennell, Hamish Johnson

book

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Literature, History

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History of English Literature provides a thorough, though ironically, subjectively, not quite thorough enough recount of Britain's (sometimes Ireland's) most prominent literary figures. Beginning with the Middle Ages, with the likes of Beowulf and Sir Gawain, Peter Quennell explores the life and work of many poets, authors, playwrights and even critics. Especially in its detailing of the development of prose and the quintessential English novel, this book excels and is highly enjoyable. Better still, it has put me onto many classic works I was, at most, interested in by default of their being classics. The weaker side of this, for me anyway, was the large amount of time spent on verse. Subjective and unfair as a criticism, I know. I just don't personally care for poetry as of yet. I often skipped the numerous, often long-winded excerpts. I was also a little disappointed that certain writers were entirely omitted - Mary Shelley, M.R. James, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Stoker and Sheridan (these last two Irish; Irishmen were included) to name just a few. I was surprised that Orwell and Huxley got such brief mentions as well. But of course, such a vast topic as this will naturally result in some being left out or just barely glanced upon. The writer himself admits and apologises for this.

All in all, though this was a large book which did sometimes test my patience (poetry and frequent textual excepts, as mentioned previously), I did still really enjoy reading it. Lucky I did read it, as at one point not long ago I considered giving it away without bothering.