English Literature

The Venerable Bede

731

The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people. During his lifetime Bede wrote around 40 books, dealing mainly with theology and history. With a special interest in numbers, he spent much time and effort investigating such things as the Church calendar, in particular attempting to calculate the precise date of Easter.

Beowulf

800

the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles and Saxons

Edda

950

The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy .Either of two 13th-century Icelandic books, the Elder or Poetic Edda (a collection of Old Norse poems on Norse legends) and the Younger or Prose Edda (a handbook to Icelandic poetry by Snorri Sturluson). The Eddas are the chief source of knowledge of Scandinavian mythology. Ref Oxfor Dictionary.

Duns Scotus

1300

Duns Scotus, known as the Subtle Doctor in medieval times, later provides humanists with the name Dunsman or dunce.the scholastic philosopher and theologian who came to be called the Subtle Doctor. A native of Scotland (as his name implies), Scotus became a Franciscan and taught in Oxford, Paris, and Cologne. In his writings he put Aristotelian thought to the service of Christian theology and was the founder of a school of scholasticism called Scotism. From Oxford Site .

William of Ockham

1340

William of Ockham advocates paring down arguments to their essentials, an approach later known as Ockham's RazorEnglish theologian and philosopher. The first certain date of Ockham's life is that he was ordained subdeacon in 1306. He joined the Franciscans, and lectured on the Sentences of Peter Lombard in Oxford between 1317 and 1319. His progress towards master of theology was halted by one Peter Lutterell, an ‘overzealous Thomist’. Oxford Reference.

Piers Plowman , William Langland

1367

a long poem written in the late 14th century by William Langland. The poem describes a vision (= a religious experience like a dream) in which different objects represent good and evil, and how Piers helps a group of people to search for truth through Christianity. It describes the life of ordinary people in great detail, and criticizes the social and moral evils of the time. From Oxford Site

Gawain and the Green Knight

1375

a long English poem written in the 14th century by an unknown author. It is about Sir Gawain, a knight at the court of King Arthur, who is told to perform various tasks by the mysterious Green Knight as a test of his faith. The poem is admired for its fine language and is regarded as one of the greatest poems of the period. Some people think it was written to celebrate the Order of the Garter.

Troilus and Crise

1385

Chaucer's longest complete poem, in 8,239 lines of rhyme‐royal probably written in the second half of the 1380s. Chaucer .

Thomas Malory

1469

Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur. his cultural knowledge and those daily references stem from Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur. Malory finished his prose fiction account of Arthur and his Round Table in “the ninth yere of the Reygne of Kyng Edward the Fourth” (i.e., either in the year 1469 or 1470, depending on the calendar used). From Oxford Site.,

Erasmus and Thomas

1510

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

William Tyndale

1524

William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English. Was the Captain of the Army of Reformers, and was their spiritual leader. Tyndale holds the distinction of being the first man to ever print the New Testament in the English language. Was a true scholar and a genius, so fluent in eight languages that it was said one would think any one of them to be his native tongue. From http://www.william-tyndale.com/tyndale-bible-history.html

Thomas Cranmer

1549

The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer.Thomas Cranmer, (born July 2, 1489, Aslacton, Nottinghamshire, England—died March 21, 1556, Oxford), the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury (1533–56), adviser to the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. As archbishop, he put the English Bible in parish churches, drew up the Book of Common Prayer . from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Cranmer

Book of Common Prayer noun

1567

The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published in Welsh, to be followed by the complete Bible in 1588.the name of the prayer book most commonly used in the Church of England. It was first published in 1549, with a new version appearing in 1622. The beauty of its language is widely admired, but many people now prefer the modern Alternative Service Book. From Oxford Dictionary

William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway

1582

She was probably born at Shottery, near Stratford, the daughter of Richard Hathaway, a local landowner. She was married to Shakespeare in November 1582, when he was 18 and when she, according to the sole evidence of an inscription on her gravestone, was 26. Their daughter Susanna was born the following May. After the birth (about 1585) of their twins, Hamnet and Judith, Shakespeare moved to London, probably leaving the family at Stratford. From https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Hat

Elizabethan and Jacobean drama

1587

Marlowe's first play, Tamburlaine the Great, introduces the swaggering blank verse of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama.Marlowe’s “mighty line,” as Ben Jonson called it, established blank verse as the standard for later Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatic writing. The play recounts the brutal rise to power and the mysterious end of the bloody 14th-century Mongol conqueror Timur, or Tamburlaine. from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tamburlaine-the-Great

Edmund Spenser

1590

English poet Edmund Spenser celebrates the Protestant Elizabeth I as The Faerie Queene.

Shakespeare

1592

After tentative beginnings in the three parts of Henry VI, Shakespeare achieves his first masterpiece on stage with Richard III

Hamlet [Shakes.]

1601

Hamlet's combination of violence and introspection is unusual
Shakespeare's central character in Hamlet expresses both the ideals of the Renaissance and the disillusion of a less confident age. among Shakespeare's tragedies. It is also full of curious riddles and fascinating paradoxes, making it one of his most widely discussed plays. From https://www.casadellibro.com/libro-hamlet-oxford-worlds--classics/9780199535811/2743031 web site .

ames I commissions the Authorized version of the Bible

1604

The commissioning of the King James Bible took place in 1604 at the Hampton Court Conference outside of London. The first edition appeared in 1611. The King James version remains one of the greatest landmarks in the English tongue. It has decidedly affected our language and thought categories, and although produced in England for English churches, it played a unique role in the historical development of America. From https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline

Ben Jonson writes The Masque of Blackness

1605

As part of his 1605 commission to produce and entertainment for the Twelfth Night celebration, Ben Jonson, working in close collaboration with noted architect Inigo Jones as the scenic designer, produced the Masque of Blackness. King James attended the performance in which the players included the Queen and a number of her ladies-in-waiting essentially appearing in blackface at her own rather strange request. From https://www.gradesaver.com/the-masque-of-blackness web site .

Ben Jonson in Volpone

1606

The satirical voice of the English playwright Ben Jonson is heard to powerful effect in Volpone .England—died August 6, 1637, London), English Stuart dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic. He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I. .from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ben-Jonson-English-writer/media

The Tempest and Shakespeare's Last Plays:

1611

Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, was written in a world in where the influence of the English language was expanding. Beginning in 1476 when William Caxton established the first significant English press in Westminster and continuing on through the next century with the mass publication of various versions of the Bible in English, the English language grew into textual legitimization (Crystal, 56). From https://the-artifice.com/the-tempest-shakespeare-final-stage-magic/

John Smith publishes A Description of New England

1616

His Description of New England describes the fishing, soils, inhabitants, fauna, flora, and climate of the coastal region from Cape Cod to Penobscot. This work is the first to apply the term “New England” to that portion of the North America from Long Island Sound to Newfoundland. At that time it held a few trading and fishing stations, and French traders from the north and Dutch from the south carried on commerce in furs with the natives. from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/4/ web site .

John Donne, England's leading Metaphysical poet

1621

Importantly, Donne and the other 16th- and 17th-century poets gathered under the ‘metaphysical’ banner – Carew, Vaughan and Marvell to name some of the most renowned – didn’t form a cohesive movement in their own time. However, their stylistic similarities – in particular a kind of showy originality and linguistic immediacy – have meant that they have been clustered together for centuries.from https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/john-donne-and-metaphysical-poetry web site .

John Heminge and Henry Condell publish thirty-six Shakespeare plays in the First Folio

1623

The publication of drama in the early 17th century was usually left to the poorer members of the Stationers’ Company (which issued licenses) and to outright pirates. The would-be publisher had only to get hold of a manuscript, by fair means or foul, enter it as his copy (or dispense with the formality), and have it printed. Such a man was Thomas Thorpe, the publisher of Shakespeare’s sonnets (1609). From https://www.britannica.com/topic/First-Folio

George Herbert's only volume of poems, The Temple, is published posthumously

1633

The poems making up The Temple were collected by Nicholas Ferrar who entrusted them to the university printer at Cambridge. It went through thirteen editions by 1709, the seventh including an index ‘for ready finding out chief places’ typical of those in emblem books and collections of commonplaces (Herbert himself had gathered over a thousand proverbs and epigrams, published posthumously 1640). from https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-memory-arts-in-renaissance-england/george.

John Milton's Lycidas is published in memory of a Cambridge friend, Edward Kin

1637

Milton's elegy was written in memory of Edward King, a younger contemporary of Milton at Christ's College who had gone on to become a Fellow, and who drowned at sea in 1637. 'Lycidas' was a contribution to the Cambridge memorial volume, Justa Edwardo King Naufrago. The poem ends, famously, 'Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new'. From http.s://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/miltons-works web site

The poems of Massachusetts author Anne Bradstreet are published in London under the title The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America

1650

The poems of Massachusetts author Anne Bradstreet are published in London under the title The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America

Devoted fisherman Izaak Walton publishes the classic work on the subject, The Compleat Angler

1653

The Compleat Angler (the spelling is sometimes modernised to The Complete Angler) is a book by Izaak Walton. It was first published in 1653 by Richard Marriot of St Dunstan-in-the-West, London. Walton continued to add to it for a quarter of a century. It is a celebration of the art and spirit of fishing in prose and verse. Walton was born in Stafford and moved to London when he was in his teens. From https://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Angler-Fishermans-Classic/dp/1976032393

On the first day of the new year Samuel Pepys gets up late, eats the remains of the turkey and begins his diary

1660

Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health, without any sense of my old pain, but upon taking of cold.1I lived in Axe Yard having my wife, and servant Jane, and no more in family than us three.My wife … gave me hopes of her being with child, but on the last day of the year. From https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1660/01/01/

Paradise Lost is published, earning its author John Milton just £10

1667

350 years ago today, the poet John Milton entered into an agreement with the printer Samuel Simmons to publish his epic poem Paradise Lost. Through this publishing contract, one of the greatest works of English literature came into print. The original contract for Paradise Lost is held by the British Library, and has just been placed on display in our Treasures Gallery. From https://blogs.bl.uk/english-and-drama/2017/04/john-miltons-publishing-contract-for-paradise-lost.html We site .

Samuel Pepys ends his diary, after only writing it for nine years

1669

Starting out as the son of a poor London tailor, Samuel Pepys became his country’s top naval civil servant, a Member of Parliament and President of the Royal Society. He was also the author of the most famous and bestloved diary in the English language, renowned for its vivid picture of his times, his London and himself. from https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/samuel-pepys-begins-his-diary

Samuel Pepys ends his diary, after only writing it for nine years

1669

Samuel Pepys ends his diary, after only writing it for nine years. One day in December 1659, a young civil servant and Cambridge graduate named Samuel Pepys went to the shop in Cornhill in the City of London, where the stationer John Cade sold paper and pens, and bought himself a paper-covered notebook too fat for his pockets and took it home to his lodgings in Westminster.

Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular

1678

Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular

Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular

1678

Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular

Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko makes an early protest against the inhumanity of the African slave trade

1688

I do not pretend, in giving you the history of this royal slave, to entertain my reader with adventures of a feign'd hero, whose life and fortunes fancy may manage at the poet's pleasure; nor in relating the truth, design to adorn it with any accidents, but such as arrived in earnest to him: And it shall come simply into the world, recommended by its own proper merits, and natural intrigues; there being enough of reality From https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/behn001oroo01_01/behn001oroo01_

John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding.

1690

John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience.Published in 1669, John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is the foundational text for modern philosophical empiricism. This essay set the standard for empirically-based arguments against the traditions of rationalism. from https://www.gradesaver.com/an-essay-concerning-human-understanding

The Augustan Age begins in English literature

1702

The Augustan Age begins in English literature, claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar

The Tatler launches a new style of journalism in Britain's coffee houses

1709

The Tatler launches a new style of journalism in Britain's coffee houses, followed two years later by the Spectator

George Berkeley attacks

1710

25-year-old George Berkeley attacks Locke in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock introduces a delicate vein of mock-heroic in English poetry.

1712

The epic is a narrative poem, of supposed divine inspiration, treating of a subject of great and momentous importance for mankind, the characters of the story being partly human and partly divine, and the language and style in which the incidents are related being full of elevation and dignity.

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English novel

1719

Robinson Crusoe, in full The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years, All Alone in an Un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, Near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having Been Cast on Shore by Shipwreck, Wherein All the Men Perished but Himself. With an Account how he was at last as Strangely Deliver’d by Pyrates. From

Jonathan Swift sends his hero on a series of bitterly satirical travels in Gulliver's Travels

1726

this thesis provides a possible insight into Gulliver’s Travels by analyzing Jonathan Swift’s satires rather than reading it as a children’s book. Swiftian satires about humanity in the four books are to the fullest. The whole novel is like a mirror by which human flaws are reflected. It probably would long have been forgotten if the book did not carry critical thinking about humanity.

David Hume publishes his Treatise of Human Nature, in which he applies to the human mind the principles of experimental science

1739

David Hume publishes his Treatise of Human Nature, in which he applies to the human mind the principles of experimental science.

Samuel Richardson's Clarissa begins the correspondence that grows into the longest novel in the English language

1747

Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady, Volume 9/9, is an epistolary novel by English writer Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. It tells the tragic story of a heroine whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by her family and is regarded as one of the longest novels in the English language (based on estimated word count). I

Henry Fielding introduces a character of lasting appeal in the lusty but good-hearted Tom Jones

1749

Henry Fielding introduces a character of lasting appeal in the lusty but good-hearted Tom Jones. The narrator explains to the reader in the opening chapter that human nature is “the main provision on offer” (51). He does not intend to make any judgments on human nature, but instead wants to present it as a dish would be offered on a menu. Much of the criticism of Tom Jones was in response to the licentious behavior of characters such as Molly Seagrim, Mrs. from v

English poet Thomas Gray publishes his Elegy written in a Country Church Yard

1751

English poet Thomas Gray publishes his Elegy written in a Country Church Yard.A meditation on unused human potential, the conditions of country life, and mortality, An Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard is one of the best-known elegies in the language. From https://www.britannica.com/topic/An-Elegy-Written-in-a-Country-Church-Yard.

Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language

1755

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language is one of the most famous dictionaries in history. First published in 1755, the dictionary took just over eight years to compile, required six helpers and listed 40,000 words. Each word was defined in detail, the definitions illustrated with quotations covering every branch of learning.

James Woodforde, an English country parson with a love of food and wine, begins a detailed diary of everyday life

1758

Parson Woodforde's diary provides an unrivalled portrayal of traditional rural life in Georgian England, but it is the diarist's humour and unpretentiousness which ensure its continuing place among the classics of English literature.

Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception

1759

Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception

Fingal, supposedly by the medieval poet Ossian, is a forgery in the spirit of the times by James MacPherson

1762

Fingal, supposedly by the medieval poet Ossian, is a forgery in the spirit of the times by James MacPherson

James Boswell meets Samuel Johnson for the first time, in the London bookshop of Thomas Davies

1763

James Boswell meets Samuel Johnson for the first time, in the London bookshop of Thomas Davies.Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield on Sept 18, 1709, he was the first son of Michael Johnson (1684-1731), bookseller, and Sarah Ford (1688?-1752?). He had a brother, Nathanael, who died in his 25th year..

English historian Edward Gibbon, sitting among ruins in Rome, conceives the idea of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

1764

English historian Edward Gibbon, sitting among ruins in Rome, conceives the idea of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland begins publication of the immensely successful Encyclopaedia Britannica

1768

A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland begins publication of the immensely successful Encyclopaedia Britannica.

17-year-old Thomas Chatterton, later hailed as a significant poet, commits suicide in a London garret

1770

17-year-old Thomas Chatterton, later hailed as a significant poet, commits suicide in a London garret

Oliver Goldsmith's play She Stoops to Conquer is produced in London's Covent Garden theatre

1773

Oliver Goldsmith's play She Stoops to Conquer is produced in London's Covent Garden theatre.
Samuel Johnson and James Boswell undertake a journey together to the western islands of Scotland

Encouraged by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine emigrates to America and settles in Philadelphia

1774

Encouraged by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine emigrates to America and settles in Philadelphia

ward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

1776

English historian Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
In his Principles Jeremy Bentham defines 'utility' as that which enhances pleasure and reduces pain

Richard Brinsley Sheridan's second play, The School for Scandal, is an immediate success in London's Drury Lane theatre

1777

Richard Brinsley Sheridan's second play, The School for Scandal, is an immediate success in London's Drury Lane theatre

William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence,

1789

William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence, a volume of his poems with every page etched and illustrated by himself.

Anglo-Irish politician Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France

1790

Anglo-Irish politician Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, a blistering attack on recent events across the Channel

Scottish poet Robert Burns publishes Tam o' Shanter, in which a drunken farmer has an alarming encounter with witches

1791

Scottish poet Robert Burns publishes Tam o' Shanter, in which a drunken farmer has an alarming encounter with witches

English author Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a passionately feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

1792

English author Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a passionately feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
Thomas Paine moves hurriedly to France, to escape a charge of treason in England for opinions expressed in his Rights of Man

William Blake's volume Songs of Innocence and Experience includes his poem 'Tyger!

1794

William Blake's volume Songs of Innocence and Experience includes his poem 'Tyger! Tyger! burning bright'.

Thomas Paine publishes his completed Age of Reason.

1795

Thomas Paine publishes his completed Age of Reason, an attack on conventional Christianity.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge says that while writing Kubla Khan he is interrupted by 'a person on business from Porlock'

1797

Samuel Taylor Coleridge says that while writing Kubla Khan he is interrupted by 'a person on business from Porlock'

English poets Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly publish Lyrical Ballads, a milestone in the Romantic movemen

1798

English poets Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly publish Lyrical Ballads, a milestone in the Romantic movemen

William Blake includes his poem 'Jerusalem' in the Preface to his book Milton

1804

William Blake includes his poem 'Jerusalem' in the Preface to his book Milton.

Walter Scott publishes The Lay of the Last Minstrel, the long romantic poem that first brings him fame

1805

Walter Scott publishes The Lay of the Last Minstrel, the long romantic poem that first brings him fame

Walter Scott's poem Lady of the Lake brings tourists in unprecedented numbers to Scotland's Loch Katrine

1810

Walter Scott's poem Lady of the Lake brings tourists in unprecedented numbers to Scotland's Loch Katrine.

Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from Oxford university for circulating a pamphlet with the title The Necessity of Atheism

1811

Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from Oxford university for circulating a pamphlet with the title The Necessity of Atheism.
English author Jane Austen publishes her first work in print, Sense and Sensibility, at her own expense

The first two cantos are published of Byron's largely autobiographical poem.

1812

The first two cantos are published of Byron's largely autobiographical poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bringing him immediate fame.

Pride and Prejudice, based on a youthful work of 1797 called First Impressions, is the second of Jane Austen's novels to be published.

1813

Pride and Prejudice, based on a youthful work of 1797 called First Impressions, is the second of Jane Austen's novels to be published.

Percy Bysshe Shelley publishes probably his best-known poem, the sonnet Ozymandias.

1818

Percy Bysshe Shelley publishes probably his best-known poem, the sonnet Ozymandias Two of Jane Austen's novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, are published in the year after her death Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, a Gothic tale about giving life to an artificial man.

William Cobbett brings back to England the bones of Thomas Paine, who died in the USA in 1809.

1819

William Cobbett brings back to England the bones of Thomas Paine, who died in the USA in 1809 Byron begins publication in parts of his longest poem, Don Juan an epic satirical comment on contemporary life Walter Scott publishes Ivanhoe, a tale of love, tournaments and sieges at the time of the crusades

English poet John Keats publishes Ode to a Nightingale, inspired by the bird's song in his Hampstead garden.

1820

English poet John Keats publishes Ode to a Nightingale, inspired by the bird's song in his Hampstead garden English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley publishes Ode to the West Wind, written mainly in a wood near Florence.

Thomas De Quincey publishes his autobiographical Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.

1821

English author Thomas De Quincey publishes his autobiographical Confessions of an English Opium-Eater English poet John Keats dies in Rome at the age of twenty-five English radical William Cobbett begins his journeys round England, published in 1830 as Rural Rides English author William Hazlitt publishes Table Talk, a two-volume collection that includes most of his best-known essays

12-year-old Charles Dickens works in London in Warren's boot-blacking factory.

1824

12-year-old Charles Dickens works in London in Warren's boot-blacking factory.

English author Frances Trollope ruffles transatlantic feathers with her Domestic Manners of the Americans, based on a 3-year stay

1832

English author Frances Trollope ruffles transatlantic feathers with her Domestic Manners of the Americans, based on a 3-year stay.

24-year-old Charles Dickens begins monthly publication of his first work of fiction.

1836

24-year-old Charles Dickens begins monthly publication of his first work of fiction, Pickwick Papers (published in book form in 1837).

Charles Dickens' first novel.

1837

Charles Dickens' first novel, Oliver Twist, begins monthly publication (in book form, 1838)

English poet Robert Browning publishes a vivid narrative poem about the terrible revenge of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

1842

English poet Robert Browning publishes a vivid narrative poem about the terrible revenge of The Pied Piper of Hamelin English author Thomas Babington Macaulay publishes a collection of stirring ballads, Lays of Ancient Rome

Ebenezer Scrooge mends his ways just in time in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

1843

Ebenezer Scrooge mends his ways just in time in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

Novel Coningsby Benjamin Disraeli .

1844

In his novel Coningsby Benjamin Disraeli develops the theme of Conservatism uniting 'two nations', the rich and the poor.

Friedrich Engels, after running a textile factory in Manchester, publishes The Condition of the Working Class in England.

1845

Friedrich Engels, after running a textile factory in Manchester, publishes The Condition of the Working Class in England

Edward Lear publishes his Book of Nonsense.

1846

Edward Lear publishes his Book of Nonsense, consisting of limericks illustrated with his own cartoons After marrying secretly, the English poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett go abroad to live in Florence The three Brontë sisters jointly publish a volume of their poems and sell just two copies

William Makepeace Thackeray begins publication of his novel Vanity Fair in monthly parts

1847

English author William Makepeace Thackeray begins publication of his novel Vanity Fair in monthly parts (book form 1848) Charlotte becomes the first of the Brontë sisters to have a novel published — Jane Eyre Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights follows just two months after her sister Charlotte's Jane Eyre.

Branwell, Emily and Anne Brontë.

1848

Branwell, Emily and Anne Brontë die within a period of eight months

Charles Dickens

1849

Charles Dickens begins the publication in monthly numbers of David Copperfield, his own favourite among his novels.

Alfred Tennyson's elegy for a friend.

1850

Alfred Tennyson's elegy for a friend, In Memoriam, captures perfectly the Victorian mood of heightened sensibility.

London physician Peter Mark Roget publishes his dictionary of synonyms.

1852

London physician Peter Mark Roget publishes his dictionary of synonyms, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.

Within six weeks of the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimea.

1854

Within six weeks of the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimea, Tennyson publishes a poem finding heroism in the disaster.

Tennyson publishes a long narrative poem.

1855

Tennyson publishes a long narrative poem, Maud, a section of which ('Come into the garden, Maud') becomes famous as a song
English author Anthony Trollope publishes The Warden, the first in his series of six Barsetshire novels

Thomas Hughes depicts the often brutal aspects of an English public school

1857

In Tom Brown's Schooldays Thomas Hughes depicts the often brutal aspects of an English public school.

English author George Eliot wins fame with her first full-length novel, Adam Bede.

1859

English author George Eliot wins fame with her first full-length novel, Adam Bede

Charles Darwin puts forward the theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species, the result of 20 years' research.

1859

In On Liberty John Stuart Mill makes the classic liberal case for the priority of the freedom of the individual Samuel Smiles provides an inspiring ideal of Victorian enterprise in Self-Help, a manual for ambitious young men Tennyson publishes the first part of Idylls of the King, a series of linked poems about Britain's mythical king Arthur Charles Dickens publishes his French Revolution novel, A Tale of Two Cities .

Charles Dickens .

1860

Charles Dickens begins serial publication of his novel "Great Expectations" (in book form 1861) George Eliot publishes The Mill on the Floss, her novel about the childhood of Maggie and Tom Tulliver

Mrs Henry Wood.

1861

Mrs Henry Wood publishes her first novel, East Lynne, which becomes the basis of the most popular of all Victorian melodramas

Lewis Carroll.

1862

Oxford mathematician Lewis Carroll tells 10-year-old Alice Liddell, on a boat trip, a story about her own adventures in Wonderland

Charles Kingsley publishes an improving fantas.

1863

English author Charles Kingsley publishes an improving fantasy for young children, The Water-Babies.

Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures.

1865

Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a development of the story he had told Alice Liddell three years earlier

Algernon Swinburne.

1866

Algernon Swinburne scandalizes Victorian Britain with his first collection, Poems and Ballads.

Matthew Arnold publishes Culture and Anarchy.

1869

English author Matthew Arnold publishes Culture and Anarchy, an influential collection of essays about contemporary society.

George Eliot publishes Middlemarch,.

1871

George Eliot publishes Middlemarch, in which Dorothea makes a disastrous marriage to the pedantic Edward Casaubon.

Lewis Carroll publishes Through the Looking Glass.

1872

Lewis Carroll publishes Through the Looking Glass, a second story of Alice's adventures.

Thomas Hardy has his first success with his novel Far from the Madding Crowd.

1874

English author Thomas Hardy has his first success with his novel Far from the Madding Crowd

Henry James moves there permanently and settles first in Paris.

1875

After spending much time in Europe in recent years, Henry James moves there permanently and settles first in Paris Henry James's early novel Roderick Hudson is serialized in the Atlantic Monthly and is published in book form in 1876

William Gladstone's pamphlet Bulgarian Horrors,.

1876

William Gladstone's pamphlet Bulgarian Horrors, protesting at massacre by the Turks, sells 200,000 copies within a month Henry James moves to London, which remains his home for the next 22 years English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins develops a new verse form that he calls 'sprung rhythm' Lewis Carroll publishes The Hunting of the Snark, a poem about a voyage in search of an elusive mythical creature.

Joseph Conrad, a Polish subject, goes to sea with the British merchant nav.

1878

21-year-old Joseph Conrad, a Polish subject, goes to sea with the British merchant nav.

Henry James's story Daisy Miller.

1879

Henry James's story Daisy Miller, about an American girl abroad, brings him a new readership.

The Aesthetic Movement and 'art for art's sakel.

1881

The Aesthetic Movement and 'art for art's sake', attitudes personified above all by Whistler and Wilde, are widely mocked and satirized in Britain.

Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure story.

1883

Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure story, Treasure Island, features Long John Silver and Ben Gunn

Oxford University Press publishes the A volume of its New English Dictionary.

1884

Oxford University Press publishes the A volume of its New English Dictionary, which will take 37 years to reach Z.

Richard Burton begins publication of his multi-volume translation from the Arabic of The Arabian Nights

1885

Explorer and orientalist Richard Burton begins publication of his multi-volume translation from the Arabic of The Arabian Nights

Robert Louis Stevenson introduces a dual personality in his novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

1886

Robert Louis Stevenson introduces a dual personality in his novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Thomas Hardy publishes his novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, which begins with the future mayor, Michael Henchard selling his wife and child at a fair Joseph Conrad becomes naturalized as a British subject and continues his career at sea in the far East

Sherlock Holmes.

1887

Sherlock Holmes features in Conan Doyle's first novel, A Study in Scarlet.

William Butler Yeats publishes his first volume of poems, The Wanderings of Oisin.

1889

23-year-old Irish author William Butler Yeats publishes his first volume of poems, The Wanderings of Oisin The Fabian Society publishes Essays in Socialisman influential volume of essays edited by Bernard Shaw

James Frazer publishes The Golden Bough.

1890

Scottish anthropologist James Frazer publishes The Golden Bough, a massive compilation of contemporary knowledge about ritual and religious custom.

Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

1891

A Gaelic pressure group, the Highland Association, is founded to preserve the indigenous poetry and music of Scotland Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the ever-youthful hero's portrait grows old and ugly Thomas Hardy publishes his novel Tess of the Durbervilles, with a dramatic finale at Stonehenge.

Oscar Wilde's comedy Lady Windermere's Fan is a great success with audiences in London's St. James Theatre W.B.

1892

Oscar Wilde's comedy Lady Windermere's Fan is a great success with audiences in London's St. James Theatre
W.B. Yeats founds the National Literary Society in Dublin, with Douglas Hyde as its first president
W.B. Yeats publishes a short play The Countess Cathleen, his first contribution to Irish poetic drama
Bernard Shaw's first play, Widowers' Houses, deals with the serious social problem of slum landlords
Mr Pooter is the suburban anti-hero of the The Diary of a Nobody.

George du Maurier publishes his novel Trilby.

1894

French-born artist and author George du Maurier publishes his novel Trilby Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book surrounds the child Mowgli with a collection of vivid animal guardians.

Oscar Wilde's most brilliant comedy.

1895

Oscar Wilde's most brilliant comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest is performed in London's St. James Theatre Oscar Wilde loses a libel case that he has brought against the marquess of Queensberry for describing him as a sodomite Oscar Wilde is sent to Reading Gaol to serve a two-year sentence with hard labour after being convicted of homosexuality H.G. Wells publishes The Time Machine, a story about a Time Traveller whose first stop on his journey is the year 802701.

English poet A.E. Housman publishes his first collection, A Shropshire Lad.

1896

English poet A.E. Housman publishes his first collection, A Shropshire Lad.

Somerset Maugham publishes his first nove.

1897

Somerset Maugham publishes his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, based on the London life he has observed as a medical student English author Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, his gothic tale of vampirism in Transylvania.

Henry James moves from London to Lamb House in Rye.

1898

Henry James moves from London to Lamb House in Rye, Sussex, which remains his home for the rest of his life H.G. Wells publishes his science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds, in which Martians arrive in a rocket to invade earth Henry James publishes The Turn of the Screw in a collection of short stories.

E. Nesbit publishes The Story of the Treasure Seekers.

1899

E. Nesbit publishes The Story of the Treasure Seekers, introducing the Bastable family who feature in several of her books for children.

Beatrix Potter publishes at her own expense The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

1901

Beatrix Potter publishes at her own expense The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Rudyard Kipling's experiences of India are put to good use in his novel Kim.

Rudyard Kipling publishes his Just So Stories for Little Children.

1902

Rudyard Kipling publishes his Just So Stories for Little Children
The play Cathleen ni Houlihan, by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, fosters Irish nationalism
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is published commercially, a year after being first printed by Beatrix Potter at her own expense
John Masefield's poem 'Sea Fever' is published in Salt-Water Ballads. Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles begins publication in serial form .Henry James publishes the first of his three last novels.

Henry James publishes The Ambassadors.

1903

Erskine Childers has a best-seller in The Riddle of the Sands, a thriller about a planned German invasion of Britain Henry James publishes The Ambassadors, the second of his three last novels written in rapid succession British philosopher G.E. Moore publishes Principia Ethica, an attempt to apply logic to ethics

Joseph Conrad publishes his novel Nostromo.

1904

Joseph Conrad publishes his novel Nostromo, about a revolution in South America and a fatal horde of silver Henry James publishes his last completed novel, The Golden Bowl J.M Barrie's play for children Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up has its premiere in London Under the pseudonym Saki, H.H. Munro publishes Reginald, his first volume of short stories.

Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, a letter of recrimination written in Reading Gaol to Lord Alfred Douglas.

1905

The Bloomsbury Group gathers for informal evenings at the family home of Virginia and Vanessa Stephens (later Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell) Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, a letter of recrimination written in Reading Gaol to Lord Alfred Douglas, is published posthumously H.G. Wells publishes Kipps: the story of a simple soul, a comic novel about a bumbling draper's assistant Bernard Shaw has two new plays opening in London in the same year, Major Barbara and Man and Superman
.

E. Nesbit publishes The Railway Children.

1906

The first volume of the inexpensive Everyman's Library is issued by Joseph Dent, a London publisher E. Nesbit publishes The Railway Children, the most successful of her books featuring the Bastable family John Galsworthy publishes The Man of Property, the first of his novels chronicling the family of Soames Forsyte.

Edmund Gosse publishes Father and Son.

1907

J.M. Synge's Playboy of the Western World provokes violent reactions at its Dublin premiere Edmund Gosse publishes Father and Son, an account of his difficult relationship with his fundamentalist father, Philip Gosse James Joyce completes the 15 short stories eventually published in 1914 as Dubliners.

Rat, Mole and Toad, in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, appeal to a wide readership.

1908

Rat, Mole and Toad, in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, appeal to a wide readership The Welsh poet W.H. Davies has a success with The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, his account of life on the road and in dosshouses

The heroine of H.G. Wells' novel Ann Veronica is a determined example of the New Woman.

1909

The heroine of H.G. Wells' novel Ann Veronica is a determined example of the New Woman.

John Masefield compares a 'dirty British coaster' with two romantic boats from the past, in his poem.

1910

In his poem Cargoes John Masefield compares a 'dirty British coaster' with two romantic boats from the past John Buchan publishes Prester John, the first of his adventure stories H.G. Wells publishes The History of Mr Polly, a novel about an escape from drab everyday existence Rudyard Kipling publishes If, which rapidly becomes his most popular poem among the British E.M. Forster publishes Howard's End, his novel about the Schlegel sisters and the Wilcox family

D.H. Lawrence's career as a writer is launched with the publication of his first novel, The White Peacock

1911

D.H. Lawrence's career as a writer is launched with the publication of his first novel, The White Peacock Rupert Brooke publishes Poems, the only collection to appear before his early death in World War I G.K. Chesterton's clerical detective makes his first appearance in The Innocence of Father Brown In a German Pension is New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield's first collection of stories

Ludwig Wittgenstein moves to Cambridge to study philosophy under Bertrand Russell

1912

Ludwig Wittgenstein moves to Cambridge to study philosophy under Bertrand Russell Walter De la Mare establishes his reputation with the title poem of his collection The Listeners

The first issue of the New Statesman is published by Beatrice and Sidney Webb.

1913

The first issue of the New Statesman is published by Beatrice and Sidney Webb Compton Mackenzie publishes the first volume of his autobiographical novel Sinister Street Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell complete a work of mathematical logic, Principia Mathematica D.H. Lawrence publishes a semi-autobiographical novel about the Morel family, Sons and Lovers.

James Joyce's novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man begins serial publication in a London journal, The Egoist

1914

After years of delay James Joyce's Dubliners, a collection of short stories, is published American-born poet Thomas Stearns Eliot crosses the Atlantic to England, making it his home for the rest of his life The Times Literary Supplement is published in London as an independent paper, separate from The Times Robert Tressell's Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is published posthumously in an abbreviated version

Somerset Maugham publishes his semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage.

1915

Somerset Maugham publishes his semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage The English writer Virginia Woolf publishes her first novel, The Voyage Out D.H. Lawrence's novel about the Brangwen family, The Rainbow, is seized by the police as an obscene work Secret agent Richard Hannay makes his first appearance in John Buchan's Thirty-Nine Steps Rupert Brooke's 1914 and Other Poems is published a few months after his death in Greece

Robert Graves publishes his first book of poems.

1916

Robert Graves publishes his first book of poems, Over the Brazier
The author H.H. Munro ('Saki') is killed by a sniper's bullet on a battlefield in France

Jeeves and Bertie Wooster make their first appearance in P.G. Wodehouse's The Man with Two Left Feet.

1917

Jeeves and Bertie Wooster make their first appearance in P.G. Wodehouse's The Man with Two Left Feet.

Lytton Strachey fails to show conventional respect to four famous Victorians.

1918

Lytton Strachey fails to show conventional respect to four famous Victorians in his influential volume of short biographies entitled Eminent Victorians Rebecca West publishes her first novel, The Return of the Soldier.

Maynard Keynes publishes a strong attack.

1919

In The Economic Consequences of the Peace Maynard Keynes publishes a strong attack on the reparations demanded from Germany.

Sapper's patriotic hero makes his first appearance.

1920

Sapper's patriotic hero makes his first appearance, taking on the villainous Carl Peterson in Bull-dog Drummond D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love, a continuation of the family story in The Rainbow, is published first in the USA The Belgian detective Hercule Poirot features in Agatha Christie's first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Ludwig Wittgenstein publishes his influential study of the philosophy of logi.

1921

Somerset Maugham's short story 'Rain' (in his collection The Trembling of a Leaf) introduces the lively American prostitute Sadie Thompson Ludwig Wittgenstein publishes his influential study of the philosophy of logic, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus.

John Galsworthy publishes his novels about the Forsyte family as a joint collection under the title The Forsyte Saga.

1922

John Galsworthy publishes his novels about the Forsyte family as a joint collection under the title The Forsyte Saga American-born poet T.S. Eliot publishes The Waste Land, an extremely influential poem in five fragmented sections.

The gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey makes his first appearance in Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body?

1923

The gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey makes his first appearance in Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body? Bernard Shaw's play Saint Joan has its world premiere in New York.

Christopher Robin features for the first time in A.A. Milne's When We Were Very Young.

1924

E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India builds on cultural misconceptions between the British and Indian communities Christopher Robin features for the first time in A.A. Milne's When We Were Very Young.

Virginia Woolf publishes her novel Mrs Dalloway.

1925

English writer Ivy Compton-Burnett finds her characteristic voice in her second novel, Pastors and Masters Virginia Woolf publishes her novel Mrs Dalloway, in which the action is limited to a single day

T.E. Lawrence publishes privately his autobiographical Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

1926

Patrick Abercrombie publishes The Preservation of Rural England, calling for rural planning to prevent the encroachment of towns T.E. Lawrence publishes privately his autobiographical Seven Pillars of Wisdom, describing his part in the Arab uprising Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and the others make their first appearance in A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh Hugh MacDiarmid writes his long poem A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle in a revived version of the Lallans dialect of the Scottish borders.

Caribbean-born author Jean Rhys publishes her first novel, Postures, based on her affair with the writer Ford Madox Ford.

1928

Siegfried Sassoon publishes Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, the first volume of a semi-autobiographical trilogy Set in a World War I trench, the play Journey's End reflects the wartime experiences of its British author, R.C. Sherrif Evelyn Waugh succeeds with a comic first novel, Decline and Fall
Radclyffe Hall's novel The Well of Loneliness is the first to deal openly with a lesbian subject

Richard Hughes publishes his first novel, A High Wind in Jamaica

1929

Richard Hughes publishes his first novel, A High Wind in Jamaica Blind Fireworks is Ulster writer Louis MacNeice's first collection of poems English author J.B. Priestley has an immediate success with his first novel, The Good Companions English poet Robert Graves puts behind him an England he dislikes in his autobiography, Goodbye to All That.

English author W.H. Auden's first collection of poetry is published with the simple title Poems

1930

Swallows and Amazons is the first of Arthur Ransome's adventure stories for children Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence star in the West End in Private Lives, Coward's comedy of marital complications Agatha Christie's Miss Marple makes her first appearance, in Murder at the Vicarage A spoof history text book, 1066 and all that, is justifiably described by its authors, Walter Sellar and Robert Yeatman, as a Memorable History of England

Virginia Woolf publishes the most fluid of her novels.

1931

Virginia Woolf publishes the most fluid of her novels, The Waves, in which she tells the story through six interior monologues.

British author C.S. Lewis publishes a moral parable.

1932

US poet Archibald MacLeish publishes a narrative epic, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico British author C.S. Lewis publishes a moral parable, The Screwtape Letters, about the problems confronting a trainee devil British author Aldous Huxley gives a bleak view of a science-based future in his novel Brave New World John Cowper Powys's novel A Glastonbury Romance is published first in New York.

H.G. Wells publishes The Shape of Things to Come.

1933

H.G. Wells publishes The Shape of Things to Come, a novel in which he accurately predicts a renewal of world war The Pylon group of British poets get their name from Stephen Spender's poem 'The Pylons' English author Antonia White publishes an autobiographical first novel, Frost in May In Down and Out in Paris and London English author George Orwell writes a sympathetic account of the people he meets on hard times.

In I, Claudius the autobiography of the Roman emperor is ghost-written by Robert Graves.

1934

In I, Claudius the autobiography of the Roman emperor is ghost-written by Robert Graves In A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh sends his hero Tony Last to a disastrous fate, far away in the Amazon rain forest.

T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral has its first performance in Canterbury cathedral.

1935

T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral has its first performance in Canterbury cathedral British publisher Allen Lane launches a paperback series to which he gives the name Penguin Books

John Maynard Keynes defines his economics in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money..

1936

John Maynard Keynes defines his economics in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. In Language, Truth and Logic 26-year-old A.J. Ayer produces a classic exposition of Logical Positivism Terence Rattigan's first play, French without Tears, is performed in London

George Orwell reveals the harsh realities of contemporary British life in The Road to Wigan Pier.

1937

C.S. Forester's central character, Horatio Hornblower, features for the first time – in The Happy Return George Orwell reveals the harsh realities of contemporary British life in The Road to Wigan Pier.

British author Evelyn Waugh publishes a classic Fleet Street novel, Scoop, introducing Lord Copper, proprietor of The Beast,.

1938

British author Evelyn Waugh publishes a classic Fleet Street novel, Scoop, introducing Lord Copper, proprietor of The Beast In Homage to Catalonia George Orwell describes his experiences fighting for the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War British author Graham Greene publishes Brighton Rock, a novel following 17-year-old Pinkie in the criminal underworld of the seaside town Maxim de Winter's house, Manderley, holds dark secrets in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood emigrate together to the USA, later becoming US citizens.

1939

W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood emigrate together to the USA, later becoming US citizens Irish author Flann O'Brien publishes his first novel, At Swim-Two-Birds British author Christopher Isherwood publishes his novel Goodbye to Berlin, based on his own experiences in the city T.S. Eliot gives cats a poetic character in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming.

1940

Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel.

Rebecca West

1941

British author Rebecca West publishes an account of Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

Enid Blyton introduces the Famous Five in Five on a Treasure Island.

1942

English children's author Enid Blyton introduces the Famous Five in Five on a Treasure Island.

The separate poems forming T.S. Eliot's .

1944

The separate poems forming T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets are brought together for the first time as a single volume, published in New York

Nancy Mitford has her first success with the novel The Pursuit of Love.

1945

English author Nancy Mitford has her first success with the novel The Pursuit of Love Evelyn Waugh publishes Brideshead Revisited, a novel about a rich Catholic family in England between the wars In George Orwell's fable Animal Farm a ruthless pig, Napoleon, controls the farmyard using the techniques of Stalin.

Titus Groan begins British author Mervyn Peake's trilogy of gothic novels

1946

Titus Groan begins British author Mervyn Peake's trilogy of gothic novels.

English author and alcoholic Malcolm Lowry publishes an autobiographical novel, Under the Volcano

1947

English author and alcoholic Malcolm Lowry publishes an autobiographical novel, Under the Volcano J.B. Priestley challenges audiences with An Inspector Calls, a play in which moral guilt spreads like an infection

Christopher Fry's verse drama .

1948

Christopher Fry's verse drama The Lady's Not For Burning engages in high-spirited poetic word play.

Enid Blyton introduces her most successful character, Noddy, a small boy.

1949

Enid Blyton introduces her most successful character, Noddy, a small boy who can't avoid nodding when he speaks George Orwell publishes Nineteen Eighty-Four, a novel set in a terrifying totalitarian state of the future, watched over by Big Brother.

C.S. Lewis gives the first glimpse of Narnia in The Lion.

1950

C.S. Lewis gives the first glimpse of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe British author Doris Lessing publishes her first novel, The Grass is Singing.

British author John Wyndham creates a dark fantasy in his novel The Day of the Triffids

1951

British author John Wyndham creates a dark fantasy in his novel The Day of the Triffids A Question of Upbringing begins Anthony Powell's 'A Dance to the Music of Time' British art historian Nikolaus Pevsner undertakes a massive task, a county-by-county description of The Buildings of England.

English author L.P. Hartley sets his novel The Go-Between in the summer of 1900

1953

English author L.P. Hartley sets his novel The Go-Between in the summer of 1900 James Bond, agent 007, has a licence to kill in Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale

Politician and author Winston Churchill completes his six-volume history The Second World War.

1954

Dylan Thomas's 'play for voices', Under Milk Wood, is broadcast on BBC radio, with Richard Burton as narrator Politician and author Winston Churchill completes his six-volume history The Second World War. Anglo-Irish novelist Iris Murdoch publishes her first novel, Under the Net English author Kingsley Amis's first novel, Lucky Jim, strikes an anti-establishment chord William Golding gives a chilling account of schoolboy savagery in his first novel, Lord of the Flies.

Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is set in contemporary Vietnam and foresees troubles ahead

1955

Kingsley Amis and other young writers in Britain become known as Angry Young Men Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is set in contemporary Vietnam and foresees troubles ahead English poet Philip Larkin finds his distinctive voice in his collection The Less Deceived. British philologist J.R.R. Tolkien publishes the third and final volume of his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings

English poet Ted Hughes marries US poet Sylia Plath.

1956

English poet Ted Hughes marries US poet Sylia Plath John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger features in the first season of London's new English Stage Company

English author John Braine publishes his first novel, Room at the Top.

1957

The Hawk in the Rain is English author Ted Hughes' first volume of poems The publication of the novel Justine launches Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. English author John Braine publishes his first novel, Room at the Top English author Stevie Smith publishes her collection of poems Not Waving but Drowning Laurence Olivier brings the music-hall artist Archie Rice vibrantly to life in John Osborne's The Entertainer

Irish dramatist Brendan Behan's play The Hostage is produced in Dublin.

1958

Irish dramatist Brendan Behan's play The Hostage is produced in Dublin Chicken Soup with Barley begins a trilogy by English playwright Arnold Wesker English author Alan Sillitoe publishes his first novel, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Harold Pinter's first play in London's West End, The Birthday Party, closes in less than a week

Harold Pinter's second play in London's West End, The Caretaker, immediately brings him an international reputation.

1959

Keith Waterhouse has a wide success with his second novel, Billy Liar Harold Pinter's second play in London's West End, The Caretaker, immediately brings him an international reputation British author Laurie Lee remembers a Cotswold boyhood in Cider with Rosie

English poet John Betjeman publishes his long autobiographical poem Summoned by Bells.

1960

English poet John Betjeman publishes his long autobiographical poem Summoned by Bells Paul Scofield plays Thomas More in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons Penguin Books are prosecuted for obscenity for publishing D.H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, and are acquitted

British novelist Muriel Spark publishes The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, set in an Edinburgh school in the 1930s.

1961

British author Roald Dahl publishes a novel for children, James and the Giant Peach British novelist Muriel Spark publishes The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, set in an Edinburgh school in the 1930s

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, setting poems by Wilfred Owen, is first performed in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral.

1962

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, setting poems by Wilfred Owen, is first performed in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral. British author Doris Lessing publishes an influential feminist novel, The Golden Notebook British author P.D. James's first novel, Cover Her Face, introduces her poet detective Adam Dalgleish Anthony Burgess publishes A Clockwork Orange, a novel depicting a disturbing and violent near-future.

US poet Sylvia Plath commits suicide in London.

1963

US poet Sylvia Plath commits suicide in London English author John Le Carré publishes a Cold-War thriller The Spy Who Came in from the Cold English author Margaret Drabble publishes her first novel, A Summer Birdcage Sexual intercourse begins in this year, according to Philip Larkin's 1974 poem Annus Mirabilis.

Roald Dahl publishes a fantasy treat for a starving child, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

1964

Roald Dahl publishes a fantasy treat for a starving child, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory English author A.S. Byatt publishes her first novel, Shadow of a Sun.

English novelist Paul Scott publishes The Jewel in the Crown, the first volume in his 'Raj Quartet'.

1966

English novelist Paul Scott publishes The Jewel in the Crown, the first volume in his 'Raj Quartet' Irish poet Seamus Heaney wins critical acclaim for Death of a Naturalist, his first volume containing more than a few poems After a long period of obscurity, Wide Sargasso Sea brings novelist Jean Rhys back into the literary limelight Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard, is produced at the Edinburgh Festival.

English author Angela Carter wins recognition with her quirky second novel, The Magic Toyshop.

1967

English author Angela Carter wins recognition with her quirky second novel, The Magic Toyshop English playwright Alan Ayckbourn has his first success with Relatively Speaking Three young Liverpool poets publish a shared anthology under the title The Mersey Sound A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, by English dramatist Peter Nichols, has its premiere in London

English biographer Michael Holroyd completes his two-volume life of Lytton Strachey.

1968

English biographer Michael Holroyd completes his two-volume life of Lytton Strachey.

English novelist John Fowles publishes The French Lieutenant's Woman, set in Lyme Regis in the 1860s.

1969

English novelist John Fowles publishes The French Lieutenant's Woman, set in Lyme Regis in the 1860s.

English poet James Fenton publishes his first collection.

1972

English dramatist Caryl Churchill's first play, Owners, is produced in London English poet James Fenton publishes his first collection, Terminal Moraine

ritish economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher publishes an influential economic tract, Small is Beautiful

1973

ritish economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher publishes an influential economic tract, Small is Beautiful Martin Amis, son of Kingsley Amis, publishes his first novel, The Rachel Papers

German-born British art historian Nikolaus Pevsner completes his monumental 46-volume Buildings of England.

1974

German-born British art historian Nikolaus Pevsner completes his monumental 46-volume Buildings of England

English author Ruth Prawer Jhabwala wins the Booker Prize with her novel Heat and Dust.

1975

English author Ruth Prawer Jhabwala wins the Booker Prize with her novel Heat and Dust.

Iris Murdoch publishes The Sea.

1978

Iris Murdoch publishes The Sea, the Sea, and wins the 1978 Booker Prize English author Andrew Motion publishes his first collection of poems, The Pleasure Steamers British author Ian McEwan publishes his first novel, The Cement Garden.

Peter Shaffer's play about Mozart, Amadeus, has its premiere in London.

1979

Peter Shaffer's play about Mozart, Amadeus, has its premiere in London.

English author Anita Brookner publishes her first novel, A Start in Life.

1981

War Music is the first instalment of Christopher Logue's version of the Iliad Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children uses the moment of India's independence to launch an adventure in magic realism English author Anita Brookner publishes her first novel, A Start in Life

Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off opens in London's West end.

1982

Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off opens in London's West end

British economist Nicholas Kaldor attacks monetarism .

1983

British economist Nicholas Kaldor attacks monetarism in The Economic Consequences of Mrs Thatcher Ronald Harwood's play The Dresser is partly inspired by the British actor Donald Wolfit

English author Julian Barnes publishes a multi-faceted literary novel, Flaubert's Parrot

1984

English author Julian Barnes publishes a multi-faceted literary novel, Flaubert's Parrot.

Benjamin Zephaniah publishes his second collection as The Dread Affa.

1985

British Rasta poet Benjamin Zephaniah publishes his second collection as The Dread Affa.

English poets John Fuller and James Fenton collaborate in a volume of satirical poems, Partingtime Hall.

1987

English poets John Fuller and James Fenton collaborate in a volume of satirical poems, Partingtime Hall Talking Heads, a series of dramatic monologues by English author Alan Bennett, is broadcast on British TV.

Ayatollah Khomeini declares a fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses.

1988

Ayatollah Khomeini declares a fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses British physicist Stephen Hawking explains the cosmos for the general reader in A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes

Racing Demon launches a trilogy on the British establishment.

1990

Racing Demon launches a trilogy on the British establishment by English playwright David Hare.

Alan Bennett's play The Madness of George III is performed at the National Theatre in London

1991

Alan Bennett's play The Madness of George III is performed at the National Theatre in London Regeneration is the first volume of English author Pat Barker's trilogy of novels set during World War I

English poet Thom Gunn's The Man with Night Sweats deals openly with AIDS

1992

English poet Thom Gunn's The Man with Night Sweats deals openly with AIDS.

English nelist Sebastian Faulks publishes Birdsong.

1993

English novelist Sebastian Faulks publishes Birdsong, set partly in the trenches of World War I Vikram Seth publishes his novel A Suitable Boy, a family saga in post-independence India Scottish author Irvine Welsh publishes his first novel, Trainspotting

Louis de Bernières publishes Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

1994

Louis de Bernières publishes Captain Corelli's Mandolin, a love story set in Italian-occupied Cephaloni.

The poems forming Ted Hughes's Birthday Letters describe his relationship with Sylvia Plath.

1997

The poems forming Ted Hughes's Birthday Letters describe his relationship with Sylvia Plath A schoolboy wizard performs his first tricks in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen .

1998

Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen dramatizes the visit of Werner Heisenberg to Niels Bohr in wartime Denmark.

The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials.

2000

The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials.