English Literature of the Nineteenth Century

The object of this book is to present the story of English literature between the publication of the Lyrical Ballards and the end of the Great War in a concise and readable form. With this object the authors have confined themselves mainly to the most prominent writers of the period; references to minor writers have been made as few and as short as possible. At the same time, much of the criticism is directed towards showing tendencies of thought and form, and an attempt has been made to place the great writers in true perspective with regard to their period. The index contains, in addition to the usual references to the text, a list of the most important works of each considerable writer before 1890. A glance through this index will enable the reader to grasp, and appreciate to some extent, the varied and abundant literary output of the period. The works of writers after 1890 are so numerous that this method is impracticable, and are so much more generally read that it is unnecessary.