The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs to Know

From Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare to Philip Larkin and Winston Churchill, this gathers work from England's most notable writers, poets, philosophers and leaders to create a detailed literary history. Drawn from the most well known works produced during the roughly 350-year period between Queen Elizabeth's ""Speech on the eve of facing the Spanish Armada"" to Winston Churchill's two ""Speeches to the House of Commons"" in June 1940, selections include such standards as Hamlet's soliloquy, Satan's lament from Milton's Paradise Lost and the entirety of T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. A few lesser known gems dot the roundup, such as Ben Johnson's Oak and Lily, as well as lyrics known more for their tunes than their writers (""Greensleeves"" and ""Amazing Grace"" among them). The mother-and-son editorial team behind this volume has created a collection that is readily accessible to the everyday reader, but will also work well in a classroom setting.