Richard Jacobs is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Brighton, School of Humanities, UK where he was subject leader for literature and Principal Lecturer for many years and where he received teaching excellence awards. His many publications include A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Reading: An Anthology of Literary Texts (2001) and Literature in Our Lives: Talking About Texts from Shakespeare to Philip Pullman (2020).

‘[I]n covering English literature from Shakespeare to postmodernism, it manages to make the subject sound both entertaining and important; the study of literature being a way of understanding the world and the mind—and also, by extension, as a kind of dissolving agent through which we can see the hypocrisies and motives of a malign state. And it is also hugely readable.’ - Nicholas Lezard, The New Statesman, 6th July 2022'Literature and the Critics enriches our understanding of literature, modern and contemporary culture, and our place in the world. While the texts examined in it are often dark and disturbing and the critical terminology employed to interpret those texts sometimes difficult, the book’s drive, energy, and occasional combativeness make for a compelling and instructive read. At a time when academic freedom and the very notion of dissent are under threat, Literature and the Critics celebrates iconoclasm, freethinking, skepticism, confrontation, self-reflection, and fresh ideas.' - Rod Keller, The Use of English, 74.1, Autumn 2022

• Introduction 1. Literature, criticism, culture, and why they matter 2. Shakespeare 3. Early modern literature 1590-1690 4. Early romantic writings 1750-1800 5. Later romantic writings 1790-1830 6. Realist fiction in England and America 1840-1870 7. Realism towards modernism: English and American fiction 1870-1900 8. Modernisms: British, Irish and American literature 1890-1970 9. Postmodernity and the contemporary novel 1970-2020

Richard Jacobs is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Brighton, School of Humanities, UK where he was subject leader for literature and Principal Lecturer for many years and where he received teaching excellence awards. His many publications include A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Reading: An Anthology of Literary Texts (2001) and Literature in Our Lives: Talking About Texts from Shakespeare to Philip Pullman (2020).

‘[I]n covering English literature from Shakespeare to postmodernism, it manages to make the subject sound both entertaining and important; the study of literature being a way of understanding the world and the mind—and also, by extension, as a kind of dissolving agent through which we can see the hypocrisies and motives of a malign state. And it is also hugely readable.’ - Nicholas Lezard, The New Statesman, 6th July 2022'Literature and the Critics enriches our understanding of literature, modern and contemporary culture, and our place in the world. While the texts examined in it are often dark and disturbing and the critical terminology employed to interpret those texts sometimes difficult, the book’s drive, energy, and occasional combativeness make for a compelling and instructive read. At a time when academic freedom and the very notion of dissent are under threat, Literature and the Critics celebrates iconoclasm, freethinking, skepticism, confrontation, self-reflection, and fresh ideas.' - Rod Keller, The Use of English, 74.1, Autumn 2022

• Introduction 1. Literature, criticism, culture, and why they matter 2. Shakespeare 3. Early modern literature 1590-1690 4. Early romantic writings 1750-1800 5. Later romantic writings 1790-1830 6. Realist fiction in England and America 1840-1870 7. Realism towards modernism: English and American fiction 1870-1900 8. Modernisms: British, Irish and American literature 1890-1970 9. Postmodernity and the contemporary novel 1970-2020

Richard Jacobs is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Brighton, School of Humanities, UK where he was subject leader for literature and Principal Lecturer for many years and where he received teaching excellence awards. His many publications include A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Reading: An Anthology of Literary Texts (2001) and Literature in Our Lives: Talking About Texts from Shakespeare to Philip Pullman (2020).

‘[I]n covering English literature from Shakespeare to postmodernism, it manages to make the subject sound both entertaining and important; the study of literature being a way of understanding the world and the mind—and also, by extension, as a kind of dissolving agent through which we can see the hypocrisies and motives of a malign state. And it is also hugely readable.’ - Nicholas Lezard, The New Statesman, 6th July 2022'Literature and the Critics enriches our understanding of literature, modern and contemporary culture, and our place in the world. While the texts examined in it are often dark and disturbing and the critical terminology employed to interpret those texts sometimes difficult, the book’s drive, energy, and occasional combativeness make for a compelling and instructive read. At a time when academic freedom and the very notion of dissent are under threat, Literature and the Critics celebrates iconoclasm, freethinking, skepticism, confrontation, self-reflection, and fresh ideas.' - Rod Keller, The Use of English, 74.1, Autumn 2022

• Introduction 1. Literature, criticism, culture, and why they matter 2. Shakespeare 3. Early modern literature 1590-1690 4. Early romantic writings 1750-1800 5. Later romantic writings 1790-1830 6. Realist fiction in England and America 1840-1870 7. Realism towards modernism: English and American fiction 1870-1900 8. Modernisms: British, Irish and American literature 1890-1970 9. Postmodernity and the contemporary novel 1970-2020