-
1660 BCE
Restoration Age - 1660 - 1700
1669
Samuel Pepys ends his diary, after only writing it for nine years 1678
Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular 1688
Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko makes an early protest against the inhumanity of the African slave trade 1690
John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience -
450
Old English period - 450 - 1066
The old English period from 450 to 1066, The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people, also we can witness the appearance of "Beowulf" a great English literature story from the Germanics -
1066
Middle English I - 1066 - 1500
1066-1500 B.C
1367
A narrator who calls himself Will, and whose name may be Langland, begins the epic poem of Piers Plowman
1375
The courtly poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells of a mysterious visitor to the round table of King Arthur
1469
Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
1500
English Renaissance - 1500 - 1660
1524
William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English 1549
The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer 1564
Marlowe and Shakespeare are born in the same year, with Marlowe the older by two months 1567
The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published in Welsh, to be followed by the complete Bible in 1588 -
Puritan 1653 - 1660
1653
Devoted fisherman Izaak Walton publishes the classic work on the subject, The Compleat Angler 1660
On the first day of the new year Samuel Pepys gets up late, eats the remains of the turkey and begins his diary -
18th Century - 1700-1798
1702
The Augustan Age begins in English literature, claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar 1710
25-year-old George Berkeley attacks Locke in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge 1719
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe can be seen as the first English novel 1755
Samuel Johnson publishes his Dictionary of the English Language 1791
Scottish poet Robert Burns publishes Tam o' Shanter, where a drunken farmer has an encounter with witches -
Romanticism - 1798-1837
1798
English poets publish Lyrical Ballads, a milestone in the Romantic movement 1836
24-year-old Charles Dickens begins monthly publication of his first work of fiction, Pickwick Papers 1837
Charles Dickens' first novel, Oliver Twist, begins monthly publication -
Victorian - 1837-1901
1844
In his novel, Coningsby Benjamin, develops the theme of Conservatism uniting 'two nations', the rich and the poor 1859
Charles Darwin puts forward the theory of evolution (The Origin of Species), the result of 20 years' research 1862
Oxford mathematician Lewis Carroll tells 10-year-old Alice Liddell, on a boat trip, a story about her own adventures in Wonderland 1884
Oxford University publishes the A volume of its New English Dictionary, which will take 37 years to reach Z -
Modern Literature - 1901 - 1940
1901
Beatrix P. publishes at her own expense The Tale of Peter Rabbit 1915
Somerset M. publishes his semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage 1919
In The Economic Consequences of the Peace, Maynard K. publishes a strong attack on the reparations demanded from Germany 1930
English author W.H. Auden's first collection of poetry is published with the title Poems 1940
Flann O'Brien's The 3rd Policeman is rejected by many publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel -
Postmoderns - 1940 - 2000
1945
English author Nancy Mitford has her first success with the novel The Pursuit of Love 1947
English author and alcoholic Malcolm L. publishes an autobiographical novel, Under the Volcano 1963
US poet Sylvia Plath commits suicide in London 1973
British economist Ernst S. publishes an influential economic tract, Small is Beautiful 1991
Alan B. play The Madness of George III is performed at the National Theatre in London 1992
Thom G. The Man with Night Sweats deals openly with AIDS -
Contemporary - Present
2000
The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials
