Short Oxford History of English Literature by Andrew Sanders

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This edition has over seven hundred pages so I wouldn't exactly call it short. The writing style is quite dry (and that is understandable) which makes it ok for academic reading but not so delightful for general reading. The history is covered chronologically and adequately with each chapter being divided into sub heads with poetry, drama or prose fiction being addressed separately. Major writers get substantial attention with a minimum of two pages dedicated to each of them. Almost eight pages are dedicated to Shakespeare. Perhaps the word short appears in the title because it is difficult to comprehensively discuss all the writers and their works in seven hundred pages. All in all a good history. Since I haven't read any other book on history of English literature so I find it difficult to compare and accord an appropriate ranking.

Still 3.5 stars for my experience with it.



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