'If I had my way, every student of English would be supplied with a copy of this book.' - Gary Day, The Times Higher Education Supplement '...an ideal starting point for any English student who is serious about the subject. It manages to provide a comprehensive overview of English literary history in an accessible, practical format. Moreover it is genuinely entertaining - Alexander's style is pithy, pungent and personal...The reader is constantly reminded that this is a history, not the history, of English literature, and the writer's own strong opinions encourage the reader to discover his or her own views and preferences... I strongly recommend it to all students of English literature, and to their teachers.' - Professor Sarah Annes Brown, Anglia Ruskin University, UK 'To write a linear history of a great literature is a difficult task, verging on the impossible these days. Professor Alexander has brought off a remarkable feat. His history is comprehensive, clear, judicious and sometimes punchy. This is an account of English writing which can be of great use to the student, the fact-hound, the teacher or the general reader. Above all, it is a triumph of reason and judgement, never cranky, nor exclusive. I shall recommend it widely.' - Professor Chris Wallace-Crabbe, University of Melbourne, Australia 'The book is a miracle of compression...To maintain the same qualities of wit, crispness and sharp but essentially generous judgement...in a 384 page book, which is something very much more than a 'survey' of the whole field of English Literature is an extraordinary achievement.' - Dr John Rathmell, Cambridge University, UK '...eminently fit to excite the critical consciousness of the student.' - Professor Philip Smallwood, Essays in Criticism '...a fantastic mine of information in which writers are seen within their chronological and literary context. Although, inevitably, there is no room for detailed analysis within such a wide-ranging book, the content provides an effective starting point for readers whatever their literary intentions.' - Sara Thorne, author of Mastering Poetry 'A succinct, comprehensive and readable chronological account...[Alexander] threads the history and literature together with authority and occasional wit.' - Jim Sweetman, The Professional Journal of the National Association for the Teaching of English
