A History of Old English Literature

"Now the oldest English texts have a literary history for the twenty-first century. One of the chief virtues of A History of Old English Literature is the rich elaboration of contexts, extending from the manuscripts to the literary and intellectual world of Anglo-Saxon England, to the early modern criticism, and to the most recent critical reception." Professor Daniel Donoghue, Harvard University

"This volume represents the renewed historicism in Old English studies and admirably supplements previous literary histories [...] Essential for undergraduate and graduate libraries." Choice

"The need for a comprehensive introductory survey of literature in Old English seems obvious, but none has been attempted since Greenfield’s and Calder’s A New Critical History of Old English Literature (1986). That volume had many imperfections, including a heavy bias towards poetry, and it is good to see that Fulk and Cain acknowledge the importance of prose and tackle it with enthusiasm. … There are plenty of things to admire in this book: excellent accounts of such relatively neglected texts as the Old English Pastoral Care and Boethius, for instance, and a rejection of the tired ‘elegy’ label whose use undermines so much criticism of the shorter poems. … this is a lively , accurate and practical introduction to the literature for students, which will provide valuable ‘refresher’ material (including biographical references) for teachers, too.” TOEBI

"It provides an excellent overview of the area … It admirably achieves the goals of an ‘history’, particularly aimed at the student market, and has much to recommend it."
Literature & History