---
product_id: 17081285
title: "A Little History of Literature"
price: "$39.76"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/17081285-a-little-history-of-literature
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# A Little History of Literature

**Price:** $39.76
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## Description

A Little History of Literature [Sutherland, John] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A Little History of Literature

Review: A Little History of (British) Literature - This book strongly resembles Saul Steinberg's famous New Yorker cover of New York City, but instead of New York streets writ large we have British authors with all the writers from other countries scattered haphazardly in the background.This necessarily gives a biased history of literature. Given these limitations this is a well-written, enlightening but very superficial literary history, aimed at the high schooler or college Freshman. It takes us only until the 5th chapter to get to Chaucer and we pretty much stay mainly on the British islands for the next 35. Sutherland, an expert in 19th Century British literature, pulls out interesting facts from all ages of writing and writes with a very light hand. But we get a full chapter on Hardy and Tennyson, but only a paragraph or two on Proust and Joyce and Kafka. He covers topics such as censorship, best sellers, screen adaptations and book prizes in their own chapters as well. A chapter on Virginia Woolf is typical: covered are a short bio, a survey of her works, feminist criticism and the Bloomsbury Group. All in seven pages. But this is a "little" history so there is truth in advertising and when moving at this pace, there are no longeurs. The book is continually entertaining, informative and very basic. It is like those tour buses that introduce you to a new city: showing you places that you may care to return to at some future time in order to linger.
Review: Modest Title but Hugely Enjoyable! - Having read Sutherland's Lives of the Novelists, and listened to his marvelous lecture series on British Literature (via Audible) I knew I was in for a treat. And this new book did not disappoint, being (as it was) written in Professor Sutherland's distinctive style. I was never bored; rather, I was inspired to read MORE. I can genuinely recommend this book to anyone who needs a good reason to return to Literature. And for those who never left it, Sutherland will help you to get even more out of reading.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,419,746 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #7 in History of Books #70 in General Books & Reading #515 in Gothic & Romantic Literary Criticism (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (332) |
| Dimensions  | 8.65 x 4.93 x 0.8 inches |
| Edition  | Illustrated |
| ISBN-10  | 0300205317 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0300205312 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Part of series  | Little Histories |
| Print length  | 275 pages |
| Publication date  | September 30, 2014 |
| Publisher  | Yale University Press |

## Images

![A Little History of Literature - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61+PVOYVM7L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Little History of (British) Literature
*by C***S on November 2, 2013*

This book strongly resembles Saul Steinberg's famous New Yorker cover of New York City, but instead of New York streets writ large we have British authors with all the writers from other countries scattered haphazardly in the background.This necessarily gives a biased history of literature. Given these limitations this is a well-written, enlightening but very superficial literary history, aimed at the high schooler or college Freshman. It takes us only until the 5th chapter to get to Chaucer and we pretty much stay mainly on the British islands for the next 35. Sutherland, an expert in 19th Century British literature, pulls out interesting facts from all ages of writing and writes with a very light hand. But we get a full chapter on Hardy and Tennyson, but only a paragraph or two on Proust and Joyce and Kafka. He covers topics such as censorship, best sellers, screen adaptations and book prizes in their own chapters as well. A chapter on Virginia Woolf is typical: covered are a short bio, a survey of her works, feminist criticism and the Bloomsbury Group. All in seven pages. But this is a "little" history so there is truth in advertising and when moving at this pace, there are no longeurs. The book is continually entertaining, informative and very basic. It is like those tour buses that introduce you to a new city: showing you places that you may care to return to at some future time in order to linger.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Modest Title but Hugely Enjoyable!
*by N***A on December 21, 2013*

Having read Sutherland's Lives of the Novelists, and listened to his marvelous lecture series on British Literature (via Audible) I knew I was in for a treat. And this new book did not disappoint, being (as it was) written in Professor Sutherland's distinctive style. I was never bored; rather, I was inspired to read MORE. I can genuinely recommend this book to anyone who needs a good reason to return to Literature. And for those who never left it, Sutherland will help you to get even more out of reading.

### ⭐⭐⭐ Useful
*by J***R on April 29, 2014*

A very interesting and useful book. A good coverage of the subject in a not too heavy manner. Good basis for a reading programme.

## Frequently Bought Together

- A Little History of Literature (Little Histories)
- A Little History of Philosophy (Little Histories)
- A Little History of Science (Little Histories)

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*Last updated: 2026-02-07*