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800
Germanic literature
Beowulf, the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles and Saxons -
949
The material of the Eddas
The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy -
1367
poem of Piers Plowman
A narrator who calls himself Will, and whose name may be Langland, begins the epic poem of Piers Plowman -
1385
Troilus and Criseyde
Chaucer completes Troilus and Criseyde, his long poem about a legendary love affair in ancient Troy -
1469
compiles 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
the northern Renaissance
Erasmus and Thomas More take the northern Renaissance in the direction of Christian humanism -
1524
translate the Bible
William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English -
Hamlet
Shakespeare's central character in Hamlet expresses both the ideals of the Renaissance and the disillusion of a less confident age -
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English novel -
Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift sends his hero on a series of bitterly satirical travels in Gulliver's Travels -
the longest novel in the English
Samuel Richardson's Clarissa begins the correspondence that grows into the longest novel in the English language -
English's Dictionary
Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language -
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 -
Pickwick Papers
24-year-old Charles Dickens begins monthly publication of his first work of fiction, Pickwick Papers (published in book form in 1837) -
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens' first novel, Oliver Twist, begins monthly publication (in book form, 1838) -
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
English poet Robert Browning publishes a vivid narrative poem about the terrible revenge of The Pied Piper of Hamelin -
the Thesaurus of English
London physician Peter Mark Roget publishes his dictionary of synonyms, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases -
Darwin's theory of evololution
Charles Darwin puts forward the theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species, the result of 20 years' research -
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a development of the story he had told Alice Liddell three years earlier -
Oxford Dictionary
Oxford University Press publishes the A volume of its New English Dictionary, which will take 37 years to reach Z -
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the ever-youthful hero's portrait grows old and ugly -
The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book surrounds the child Mowgli with a collection of vivid animal guardians -
Dracula
English author Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, his gothic tale of vampirism in Transylvania -
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 Pan
J.M Barrie's play for children Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up has its premiere in London -
Winnie-the-Pooh
Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and the others make their first appearance in A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh -
Treasure Island
English children's author Enid Blyton introduces the Famous Five in Five on a Treasure Island -
Narnia
C.S. Lewis gives the first glimpse of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -
James Bond
James Bond, agent 007, has a licence to kill in Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale -
Lord of the Flies
William Golding gives a chilling account of schoolboy savagery in his first novel, Lord of the Flies -
The Lord of the Rings
British philologist J.R.R. Tolkien publishes the third and final volume of his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings -
the Giant Peach
British author Roald Dahl publishes a novel for children, James, and the Giant Peach -
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl publishes a fantasy treat for a starving child, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -
the Big Bang to Black Holes
British physicist Stephen Hawking explains the cosmos for the general reader in A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes -
Harry Potter
A schoolboy wizard performs his first tricks in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
