Derived from the "Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature", this book traces the course of English literature from the earliest Anglo-Saxon poetry to the present day. Each chapter is written by an expert, and contains a discussion of the most important developments and figures of a key literary period. Major figures such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, Wordsworth, Eliot, and Auden are treated in depth, and the story is brought right up to date with discussion of contemporary authors such as Seamus Heaney, Martin Amis and Angela Carter. This new edition has been extended to include coverage of the 1980s and 90s, and the Further Reading sections for all the essays have been revised and updated.