A History of English Literature

[nomadic myth]

Anyone have a good history of English literature to recommend?

I read English Literature by Anthony Burgess a while ago, and found it good. The only problems with it were that it is a little bit out of date, it seemed to focus too much on drama (although I recognize it is a part of English literature, I'm not that into it), and also it seemed to get into too many seemingly obscure authors towards the end (I hate paragraphs that are not much more than names and dates).

I would like something really new, gripping enough to get me inspired about reading older literature, and informative about literary periods. I would rather read something that isn't a textbook.

 

[nomadic myth]

I think I decided on these books. They are all quite long, especially the "short" Oxford one, but they will do the trick.

A History of Canadian Literature by W. H. New.

The Short Oxford History of English Literature by Andrew Sanders.

A History of American Literature by Richard J. Gray.