As the title itself elucidates, it critically captures the literary period from Anglo-Saxon to the Modern period with reference to major trends and representative writers including their major works. To make it concise, minor writers and their writings have been discussed selectively. The development of each genre has been carefully and critically examined vis-a-vis the background of the period.

    History is dynamic that proceeds ahead with transitions embodying the social, economic, political, literary, and religious upheavals as a record for future generation. The literary history of any period cannot be studies in isolation leaving social, economic, political, religious and number of segments due to the changes in respective aspects. For the convenience of discussion the periods of English Literature can be summed up as follows:

1. Old English or Anglo-Saxon Period (450-1066)

2. Middle English Period (1066-1500)

3. The Renaissance or Early Modern Period (1500-1660)

     a) Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

     b) Jacobean Age (1603-1625)

     c) Caroline Age (1625-1649)

     d) Commonwealth Perod or Puritan Interregnum (1649-1660)

4. The Neoclassical Period (1660-1785)

      a) The Restoration (1660-1830)

     b) The Augustan Age or The Age of Pope (1700-1745)

     c) The Age of Sensibility or The Age of Johnson (1745-1785)

5. The Romantic Period (1785-1830)

6. The Victorian Period (1832-1901)

     a) The Pre-Raphaelites (1832-1901)

     b) Aestheticism and Decadence (1880-1901)

7. The Edwardian Period (1901-1914)

8. The Georgian Period (1910-1936)

9. The Modern Period (1914-1945)

10. The Postmodern Period (1945- Onwards)