
Translated From The French By Sir Home Gordon, Bart.
PREFACE
CHAPTER I. — ANCIENT INDIA
CHAPTER II. — HEBRAIC LITERATURE
CHAPTER III. — THE GREEKS
CHAPTER IV. — THE LATINS
CHAPTER V. — THE MIDDLE AGES: FRANCE
CHAPTER VI. — THE MIDDLE AGES: ENGLAND
CHAPTER VII. — THE MIDDLE AGES: GERMANY
CHAPTER VIII. — THE MIDDLE AGES: ITALY
Designed as a friendly road‑map for anyone stepping into the world of literature, this guide moves quickly from the earliest recorded verses to the bustling creativity of the nineteenth century. It sketches the flow of ideas and cultural currents, showing how each epoch builds on the one before, and invites listeners to pause and wonder at the connections.
The narrative sweeps through the sacred chants of ancient India, the foundational texts of Hebrew tradition, and the soaring epics of Greece and Rome. It then follows the medieval voices of France, England, Germany, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, before arriving at the vibrant poets, dramatists and essayists who shaped modern thought. Major genres—epic, lyric, drama, philosophy—are highlighted through the most influential writers of each period.
More than a simple catalogue, the book serves as a handy reference that sparks curiosity and encourages deeper exploration. Listeners will come away with a clear sense of the grand tapestry of world literature and a roadmap for their own literary journeys.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (245K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Text file produced by Ted Garvin, Marlo Dianne, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team HTML file produced by David Widger
Release date
2005-07-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1847–1916
A sharp, readable French critic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he became known for making literature feel lively, clear, and worth arguing about. His essays and histories helped generations of readers approach great writers without academic fog.
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