-
730
ENGLISH CHURCH AND PEOPLE
The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people -
800
BEOWULF
Beowulf, the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles and Saxons -
950
THE MATERIAL OF THE EDDAS
The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy -
1300
DUNS SCOTUS
Duns Scotus, known as the Subtle Doctor in medieval times, later provides humanists with the name Dunsman or dunce -
1340
OCKHAM'S RAZOR
William of Ockham advocates paring down arguments to their essentials, an approach later known as Ockham's Razor -
1367
THE FIRST NARRATOR
A narrator who calls himself Will, and whose name may be Langland, begins the epic poem of Piers Plowman -
1367
GEOFFREY CHAUCER
One of four new yeomen of the chamber in Edward III's household is Geoffrey Chaucer -
1375
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
The courtly poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells of a mysterious visitor to the round table of King Arthur -
1385
TROILUS AND CRISEYDE POEM´S
Chaucer completes Troilus and Criseyde, his long poem about a legendary love affair in ancient Troy -
1387
100 CANTERBURY TALES
Chaucer begins an ambitious scheme for 100 Canterbury Tales, of which he completes only 24 by the time of his death -
1469
MORTE D´ ARTHUR
Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
1510
CHRISTIAN HUMANISM
Erasmus and Thomas More take the northern Renaissance in the direction of Christian humanism -
1524
TRANSLATE THE BIBLE INTO ENGLISH
William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English -
1549
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer -
1564
MARLOWE AND SHAKESPEARE: TWO GREAT WRITERS
Marlowe and Shakespeare are born in the same year, with Marlowe the older by two months -
1567
THE BOOK OF COMMON AND THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published in Welsh, to be followed by the complete Bible in 1588 -
MARLOWE´S FIRST PLAY
Marlowe's first play, Tamburlaine the Great, introduces the swaggering blank verse of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama -
THE FAERIE QUEENE
English poet Edmund Spenser celebrates the Protestant Elizabeth I as The Faerie Queene an epic poem with a fantastic allegory that paid homage to the Tudor house and Elizabeth I of England. He is recognized as one of the first architects of modern English verse and is considered one of the best poets in the English language. -
HAMLET
Shakespeare's central character in Hamlet expresses both the ideals of the Renaissance and the disillusion of a less confident age -
THE BIBLE
James I commissions the Authorized version of the Bible, which is completed by forty-seven scholars in seven years -
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE FROM WRITER TO ACTOR
William Shakespeare's name appears among the actors in a list of the King's Men -
THE MASQUE OF BLACKNESS
Ben Jonson escribe The Masque of Blackness, la primera de sus muchas máscaras para la corte de James I -
SHAKESPEARE´S SONNETS
Shakespeare's sonnets, written ten years previously, are published -
GEORGE BERKELEY AND THE PRINCIPLE OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
25-year-old George Berkeley attacks Locke in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge -
A DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND
John Smith publishes A Description of New England, an account of his exploration of the region in 1614 -
METHAPHYSICAL POET
John Donne, England's leading Metaphysical poet, becomes dean of St Paul' -
JOHN MILTON´S LYCIDAS
John Milton's Lycidas is published in memory of a Cambridge friend, Edward King -
THE POEMS OF MASSACHUSETTS
The poems of Massachusetts author Anne Bradstreet are published in London under the title The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America -
THE COMPLEAT ANGLER
Devoted fisherman Izaak Walton publishes the classic work on the subject, The Compleat Angler -
JOHN MILTON´S PARADISE LOST
Paradise Lost is published, earning its author John Milton just £10 -
THE PILGRIM´S PROGRESS
Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular -
HUMAN UNDERSTANDING
John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience -
ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE AGUSTAN AGE
The Augustan Age begins in English literature, claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar -
GEORGE BERKELEY AND HIS ATTACKS TO THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
25-year-old George Berkeley attacks Locke in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge -
ALEXANDER POPE´S RAPE OF THE LOCK
Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock introduces a delicate vein of mock-heroic in English poetry -
DANIEL DEFOE´S ROBINSON CRUSOE
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English novel -
DAVID HUME´S HUMAN NATURE
David Hume publishes his Treatise of Human Nature, in which he applies to the human mind the principles of experimental science -
THOMAS GRAY´S ELEGY
English poet Thomas Gray publishes his Elegy written in a Country Church Yard -
DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language -
TRISTAM SHANDY
Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception -
JAMES BOSWELL AND SAMUEL JOHNSON
James Boswell meets Samuel Johnson for the first time, in the London bookshop of Thomas Davies -
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland begins publication of the immensely successful Encyclopaedia Britannica -
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
English historian Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire -
SONGS OF INNOCENCE
William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence, a volume of his poems with every page etched and illustrated by himself -
TAM O´ SHANTER
Scottish poet Robert Burns publishes Tam o' Shanter, in which a drunken farmer has an alarming encounter with witches -
THE RIGHTS OF MAN
Thomas Paine publishes the first part of The Rights of Man, his reply to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France -
AGE OF CHRISTIANITY
Thomas Paine publishes his completed Age of Reason, an attack on conventional Christianity -
BALLADS
English poets Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly publish Lyrical Ballads, a milestone in the Romantic movement -
JERUSALEM
William Blake includes his poem 'Jerusalem' in the Preface to his book Milton -
LADY OF THE LAKE
Walter Scott's poem Lady of the Lake brings tourists in unprecedented numbers to Scotland's Loch Katrine -
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Pride and Prejudice, based on a youthful work of 1797 called First Impressions, is the second of Jane Austen's novels to be published -
TWO OF JANE AUSTEN´S NOVELS AFTER HER DEATH
Two of Jane Austen's novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, are published in the year after her death -
ODE TO NIGHTINGALE
English poet John Keats publishes Ode to a Nightingale, inspired by the bird's song in his Hampstead garden -
ODE TO THE WEST WIND
English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley publishes Ode to the West Wind, written mainly in a wood near Florence -
OPIUM EATER
English author Thomas De Quincey publishes his autobiographical Confessions of an English Opium-Eater -
OLIVER TWIST
Charles Dickens' first novel, Oliver Twist, begins monthly publication (in book form, 1838) -
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY´S STIRRING BALLADS
English author Thomas Babington Macaulay publishes a collection of stirring ballads, Lays of Ancient Rome -
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Ebenezer Scrooge mends his ways just in time in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol -
DICTIONARY OF SYNONYMS
London physician Peter Mark Roget publishes his dictionary of synonyms, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases -
ORIGINS OF SPECIES
Charles Darwin puts forward the theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species, the result of 20 years' research -
THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM
Edward FitzGerald publishes The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, romantic translations of the work of the Persian poet -
VICTORIAN MELODRAMAS
Mrs Henry Wood publishes her first novel, East Lynne, which becomes the basis of the most popular of all Victorian melodramas -
ALICE´S ADVENTURES
Lewis Carroll publishes Through the Looking Glass, a second story of Alice's adventures -
SPRUNG RHYTM
English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins develops a new verse form that he calls 'sprung rhythm -
TREASURE ISLAND
Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure story, Treasure Island, features Long John Silver and Ben Gunn -
NEW ENGLISH DICTIONARY
Oxford University Press publishes the A volume of its New English Dictionary, which will take 37 years to reach Z -
SHERLOCK HOLMES´ STORIES
Sherlock Holmes features in Conan Doyle's first novel, A Study in Scarlet -
THE GOLDEN BOUGH
Scottish anthropologist James Frazer publishes The Golden Bough, a massive compilation of contemporary knowledge about ritual and religious custom -
LIZA OF LAMBETH
Somerset Maugham publishes his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, based on the London life he has observed as a medical student -
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
H.G. Wells publishes his science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds, in which Martians arrive in a rocket to invade earth -
PETER RABBIT
Beatrix Potter publishes at her own expense The Tale of Peter Rabbit -
COMMERCIAL PUBLICATION OF THE TALES OF PETER RABBIT
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is published commercially, a year after being first printed by Beatrix Potter at her own expense -
TWO NEW PLAYS IN LONDON
Bernard Shaw has two new plays opening in London in the same year, Major Barbara and Man and Superman -
PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA
Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell complete a work of mathematical logic, Principia Mathematica -
OVER THE BRAZIER
Robert Graves publishes his first book of poems, Over the Brazier -
THE ECONOMICS CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE
In The Economic Consequences of the Peace Maynard Keynes publishes a strong attack on the reparations demanded from Germany -
CULTURAL MISCONCEPTIONS
E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India builds on cultural misconceptions between the British and Indian communities -
RURAL LIFE1926
Patrick Abercrombie publishes The Preservation of Rural England, calling for rural planning to prevent the encroachment of towns -
THE HOTEL
Anglo-Irish author Elizabeth Bowen publishes her first novel, The Hotel -
THE GOOD COMPANIONS
English author J.B. Priestley has an immediate success with his first novel, The Good Companions -
ROBERT GRAVES´AUTOBIOGRAPHY
English poet Robert Graves puts behind him an England he dislikes in his autobiography, Goodbye to All That -
CONQUISTADOR
US poet Archibald MacLeish publishes a narrative epic, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico -
PENGUIN BOOKS
British publisher Allen Lane launches a paperback series to which he gives the name Penguin Books -
THE THIRD POLICEMAN IS REJECTED
Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel -
AGENT 007
James Bond, agent 007, has a licence to kill in Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale -
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Politician and author Winston Churchill completes his six-volume history The Second World War -
THE QUIET AMERICAN
Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is set in contemporary Vietnam and foresees troubles ahead -
JOHN BETJEMAN´S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
English poet John Betjeman publishes his long autobiographical poem Summoned by Bells -
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Roald Dahl publishes a fantasy treat for a starving child, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -
THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN
English novelist Paul Scott publishes The Jewel in the Crown, the first volume in his 'Raj Quartet' -
OWNERS
English dramatist Caryl Churchill's first play, Owners, is produced in London -
THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF MRS THATCHER
British economist Nicholas Kaldor attacks monetarism in The Economic Consequences of Mrs Thatcher -
THE THEORY OF BIG BANG
British physicist Stephen Hawking explains the cosmos for the general reader in A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes -
WORLD WAR I
Regeneration is the first volume of English author Pat Barker's trilogy of novels set during World War I -
CAPTAIN CORELLI´S MANDOLIN
Louis de Bernières publishes Captain Corelli's Mandolin, a love story set in Italian-occupied Cephalonia -
HARRY POTTER
A schoolboy wizard performs his first tricks in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -
HIS DARK MATERIALS
The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials