Cassell's History of English Literature - Brief Article - Book Review

Contemporary Review, March, 2004

Cassell's History of English Literature. Peter Conrad. Cassell. [pounds sterling]30.00. xi 772 pages. ISBN 0-3304-36610-2. This history was first published in 1985 and the author has taken the opportunity of revising his text by adding a new final chapter in which he extends his coverage to bring the book up to the (more or less) present.

In his Note to the new edition he dismisses the 'post-modernist' nonsense that writers can never be 'originators' and argues that 'our literature has never been livelier; it is positively invigorated by the problems of geopolitical dread, technological take-over, national self-doubt and cultural collapse'--much as it was at the end of the nineteenth century when similar fears confronted the intelligentsia and politicians. The world, he admits, is 'increasingly illiterate' which makes the role of writers even more important. As important is a knowledge of our literary heritage. Mr Conrad brings a wide frame of reference and much thought, as well as learning, to his discussions. The book, even without the new chapter, is what it was in 1985, a valuable addition to our county's self-knowledge as seen in our literature. (A.F.P.)