The Short Oxford History of English Literature

Not surprisingly, Sanders has crafted an excellent historical survey of the development and nuances of English lit. It's well worth reading to gain a better understanding of why and how English lit has looked at various times in history. About the only thing I would have liked to see was a little more in the way of excerpts from notables here. Sanders does include some, and I know we can't have everything we'd like in a history that has the word 'shorter' in the title; I guess that's not so much a complaint as just a lament about concise surveys in general... and now I'm off-topic. anyhow, this is superbly constructed and solidly written, and I enjoyed myself.