The Short Oxford History of English Literature is the most comprehensive and scholarly history of English literature on the market. It offers an introductory guide to the literature of the British Isles from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day in eleven chapters covering all the major periods of English literature chronologically. Professor Sanders provides detailed analysis of the major writers and their works and examines the impact of British literature on contemporary political, social and intellectual developments.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Poets' Corners: The Development of a Canon of English Literature
1: Old English Literature
2: Medieval Literature
3: Renaissance and Reformation: Literature 1510-1620
4: Revolution and Restoration: Literature 1620-1690
5: Eighteenth-Century Literature 1690-1780
6: The Literature of the Romantic Period
7: High Victorian Literature
8: Late Victoria and Edwardian Literature 1880-1920
9: Modernism and its Alternatives: Literature 1920-1945
10: Post-War and Post-Modern Literature