This timely volume presents a rich and absorbing selection of extracts from around two hundred leading literary critics of the last several decades, writing on many of the most widely studied literary texts in English, from Shakespeare to Toni Morrison.

Introduction 1. Literature, criticism, culture, and why they matter 2. Shakespeare 3. Early modern literature 1590-1690 4. Early romantic writings 1750-1800 5. Later romantic writings 1790-1830 6. Realist fiction in England and America 1840-1870 7. Realism towards modernism: English and American fiction 1870-1900 8. Modernisms: British, Irish and American literature 1890-1970 9. Postmodernity and the contemporary novel 1970-2020

Richard Jacobs is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Brighton, School of Humanities, UK where he was subject leader for literature and Principal Lecturer for many years and where he received teaching excellence awards. His many publications include A Beginner's Guide to Critical Reading: An Anthology of Literary Texts (2001) and Literature in Our Lives: Talking About Texts from Shakespeare to Philip Pullman (2020).