British literature is known all over the world. English is still the most widely-spoken language in the world and there have been some of the most influential figures in the world of literature for thousands of years stemming from Great Britain. It would be remiss not to mention the likes of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens on a list like this, but a lot had to occur before we were even close to these writers being published.
This guide takes us right back to the history of the English language and how influential authors fit into a timeline of British and English literature. We explore the history of British literature in this guide.
British Literature Timeline
The history of literature can be more easily understood by looking at a timeline of works and periods of UK literature.
450-1066
Old English
The earliest fictional works including pioneering works like Beowulf.
1066-1500
Middle English
Works like Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales helped to push literature forward. The printing press was invented toward the end of this period.
1500-1600
The English Renaissance
Iconic Shakespeare works such as Hamlet, and other influential stories like Doctor Faustus were published in this time.
1600-1785
The Neoclassical Period
Adventurous works like Gulliver's Travels and Paradise Lost were published in this period.
1785-1832
The Romantic Period
Romantics like Shelley, Blake, and Austen were working in this period.
1832-1901
Victorian Era
Authors like the Brontë sisters and Charles Dickens were active in the Victorian era.
1901-1914
Edwardian Era
This brief era saw works like The Wind in the Willows and Peter Pan published.
1910-1936
Georgian Period
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was among the most influential books of this period.
Early 20th Century
The Modern Period
Influential writers like James Joyce were working in this period and modernist books like those by Virginia Woolf were published.
Mid to Late 20th Century
Postmodern Period
Salman Rushdie and Zadie Smith have been among the most influential writers of this time, when more books were published than ever before.
Periods of British History
In terms of literature you may hear these terms. For instance, Shakespeare was active in the English Renaissance period.
The graph below will help you to understand these periods and what is meant when talking about these periods. For instance, the earliest books that are still regularly read today stemmed from the Anglo-Saxon period, when English was remarkably different in how it was written and communicated.
What is British literature and what journey has it been on? This table shows the details.
Some periods on this list were relatively short in time (for instance, the Georgian and Edwardian Periods) but they were also crucially important with many different influential works published at that time.
| Period | Years |
|---|---|
| Old English (Anglo-Saxon Period) | 450–1066 |
| Middle English Period | 1066-1500 |
| The English Renaissance | 1500-1600 |
| The Neoclassical Period | 1600-1785 |
| The Romantic Period | 1785-1832 |
| The Victorian Age | 1832-1901 |
| The Edwardian Period | 1901-1914 |
| The Georgian Period | 1910-1936 |
| The Modern Period | Early 20th century |
| The Postmodern Period | Mid-20th century |
Old English - Beowulf The Literary "Big Bang"
If we're going to go write to the origins of literature in the UK then we need to refer to Beowulf.
Whether you're researching facts about the Anglo-Saxons or you are just exploring a full history of British literature then you will almost definitely have come across Beowulf in one way or another. You may not have realised what a huge influence it had on both culture and the way we perceive the timeline of literature.
The timing of the origin of Beowulf is not known exactly. As with so many cultural and historic facts there is some dispute over the exact timeline.
However, what can't be disputed is the influence of this piece of poetry, which holds over 3,000 lines. The actual story may have been in circulation as early as Pagan times and involves many different aspects of Norse mythology.
Beowulf is a hero of the Geats who helps the king of the Danes during an attack by a monster, Grendel, who he kills. Beowulf becomes a king in his own eventually is killed during a battle with a dragon, though he still manages to defeat the dragon.
It is the oldest surviving manuscript from the time and we undeniably have a lot to thank this writing for. The author is anonymous and unknown to this day, but Beowulf spawned a movement in literature that would continue to grow and evolve.
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| Title | Author | Genre | Approx. Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beowulf | Anonymous | Epic Poem | c. 700-1000 |
| The Seafarer | Anonymous | Poetry | c. 10th century |
| The Wanderer | Anonymous | Poetry | c. 10th century |
Middle English
In the Middle English period there were undeniably very few writers whose work exists to this day. This i partially due to the fact that high culture and the lawmakers of the country were now using Anglo-Norman or Latin.
The important works from this time include Ormulum, Havelock the Dane, and Brut, which is based on a book written in Anglo-Norman and covers the history of Britain. Brut is over 16,000 lines long.
Middle English is not remembered as a golden era in the same way as some of the time periods to follow, but this is partially due to the fact that there were so many conflicts in language as well as poor record-keeping.
However, the work of one Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the father of English Literature to many, would change everything. His work includes the famous "Canterbury Tales" though it was not finished in his lifetime, "The House of Fame", and "The Book of the Duchess"
| Title | Author | Genre | Approx. Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Canterbury Tales | Geoffrey Chaucer | Poetry/Narrative | c. 1387-1400 |
| Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Anonymous (Pearl Poet) | Romance | c. 14th century |
| Piers Plowman | William Langland | Allegory/Poetry | c. 1370-1386 |
The English Renaissance
In this era we certainly did see a golden age of literature in the timeline of England, during which the most successful authors were also playwrights.
The perfect storm of geopolitical events and the influential work of a few very significant figures meant that the this was an era of drama and plays. Of course, we can't ignore the unbelievable influence that Shakespeare had on pop culture, both now and in this time with no end of plays including Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth...the list goes on.
Shakespeare wasn't alone, though, there were others working at the time including the iconic Kit Marlow who wrote tragedies including Dr. Faustus that are still performed to this day.
Marlowe was a member of a group from the age which was known as the ‘University Wits.’ Other members of the group include alumni writers from the Cambridge and Oxford universities including John Lyly, Thomas Nashe, and George Peele.
Though Shakespeare's work is undeniably the most influential of any authors, possibly ever, the period was one where the whole of English culture seemed to thrive during the Elizabethan Age.
| Title | Author | Genre | Approx. Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamlet | William Shakespeare | Tragedy/Drama | c. 1600 |
| Doctor Faustus | Christopher Marlowe | Tragedy/Drama | c. 1592 |
| The Faerie Queene | Edmund Spenser | Epic Poem | c. 1590-1596 |
| Astrophil and Stella | Sir Philip Sidney | Sonnet Sequence | c. 1582 |
The Romantic and Victorian Periods
The Romantic period was a time of amazing poets who, according to the British Library, "had an intuitive feeling that they were ‘chosen’ to guide others through the tempestuous period of change."
The time saw rebellions and riots as well as anarchy through the whole of Europe, particularly in France where we saw the French Revolution take place. Romantics work covered a variety of political events and developed its own literary style that can be seen in the works of William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats, among others.
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The Victorian Period would see many of these writers continue their work, to be joined by a movement of writers who focused largely on social issues. This can be seen in the wonderful work of Charles Dickens, the best known of the authors of this time.
By the Victorian Era there was more of a focus on prose fiction, as we moved away from poetry as a format somewhat, paving the way for great novelists such as Dickens himself, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy and even famous writer of the time Rudyard Kipling whose work was largely in children's fiction.
There were writers working in other formats including Tennyson, and we would see Gilbert and Sullivan's along with the influential work of Oscar Wilde in this time. Much of the work of the time is still studied and even performed and adapted for screen today.
| Title | Author | Genre | Approx. Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyrical Ballads | Wordsworth & Coleridge | Poetry | 1798 |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | Novel | 1813 |
| Great Expectations | Charles Dickens | Novel | 1860-1861 |
| Wuthering Heights | Emily Brontë | Novel | 1847 |
The Edwardian and Georgian Periods in Literature (The Modern Period)
Two of the shorter periods in terms of time were the Edwardian and Georgian periods.
Though not the longest periods, movements springing from the work that had gone before saw many different genres begin to become popular.
Though interrupted by war, we saw the likes of Beatrix Potter, George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, and P. G. Wodehouse working at this time, along with Arthur Conan Doyle, to name a few. We now had science fiction, detective novels, and many more children's authors.
Another author of the time who needs no introduction is Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey are all undeniable classics. Women, though still suppressed, had more routes into writing as Austen proved.
| Title | Author | Genre | Approx. Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howards End | E.M. Forster | Novel | 1910 |
| The Wind in the Willows | Kenneth Grahame | Children's Novel | 1908 |
| The Waste Land | T.S. Eliot | Modernist Poem | 1922 |
The 20th-21st Century
Bringing us up to date, the post-war period in Britain has seen many different poets and writers working in different genres.
There have been many smaller movements and the era is not so closely defined by one specific genre or style.
We cover more on authors from this time period here, but some names include J. G. Ballard, J.R.R Tolkien, Graham Greene and Salman Rushdie. All of these were working throughout the 20th Century.
By the 20th and 21st centuries, British literature had profoundly impacted the cultural output of many other countries, notably the USA, with many of the famous American writers citing the British writers as influences.
| Title | Author | Genre | Approx. Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | George Orwell | Dystopian Novel | 1949 |
| To the Lighthouse | Virginia Woolf | Modernist Novel | 1927 |
| Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie | Novel | 1981 |
| White Teeth | Zadie Smith | Novel | 2000 |
Conclusion and Future
Though we have covered the future of literature in another guide here on the site, it is fair to say that things are moving more quickly than ever. While we still see global phenomena, the rise of indie publishing and authors has meant more choice and competition out there.
Nobody knows the exact route that literature will now take, but it is undeniable that the history of English literature includes some incredible figures. Icons such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and more, have become household names.
Literature is studied by millions every year, and the history of the UK is a treasure trove of some of the most important works ever made. Who knows what will come next in the timeline of English writers and poets?
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