History of English Literature by EDWARD ALBERT

Albert's History of English Literature has won for itself a secure place as a study of literary history and criticism. Its continued popularity suggests that the value of its judgments remains for the most part unimpaired. In places, however, the last twenty years have inevitably seen changes of perspective and revaluations; these the present edition seeks to incorporate, while yet preserving of its predecessor all that is in line with modern thought. The chapter on post-Victorian writers, which has felt most strongly the impact of fresh evaluations, has been completely rewritten, and, difficult though it is to view things so close at hand in any true perspective, the attempt has been made to bring the story of our literature up to date.

The entirely new bibliography will, it is hoped, enable those who wish to pursue their studies further to acquaint themselves not only with the standard authorities, but with more recent research, and thus gain some impression of the changing trends of critical opinion.

The method and layout of the original work have been preserved as far as possible, except that considerations of length have necessitated the omission of the exercises at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book as a whole. For the revision of the first two chapters I am indebted to Dr Kenneth Cameron, Lecturer in English in Nottingham University.

It is a truism to say that in literary history, as in all else, nothing stands still; and it is therefore not surprising that in our time of vigorous literary activity further material on current trends should again be required. In view of this, considerable amendments have been made to statements in Chapter XIII, while Chapter XIV, on the contemporary literary scene, has been completely rewritten. The Bibliography for Chapter XIII has been updated, and a bibliographical section supplied for Chapter XIV. For this work of revision I am indebted to Dr G. G. Urwin.

Once again, the whirligig of time brings in his revenges, and in a relatively short time new notes and evaluations are once again called for. These are in fact more extensive than were undertaken for the fourth edition, and have resulted in some increase in length. Chapter XII, The Birth of Modern Literature, has suffered a few changes; Chapter XIII has again been extensively overhauled; Chapter XIV is once more rewritten. But the main point to emphasize is that the Bibliography has been entirely re-compiled to take into account more recent scholarship. This considerable task has produced a book-list that cannot but add immeasurably to the value of the work. For all these labours I am indebted once more to Dr G. G. Urwin.

J. A. STONE