George Saintsbury wrote literary history and criticism on English and European writing, with books designed to trace styles, periods and genres across long stretches of literary history. A History of English Prosody studies metre and verse technique in unusually systematic detail, while A Short History of English Literature and his histories of criticism organise large bodies of writing into broad chronological narratives. He also wrote on French literature, wine and individual authors, reflecting the wide-ranging habits of a late-Victorian and Edwardian man of letters. Saintsbury's prose is learned, opinionated and densely referential, often assuming readers already know many of the works under discussion. His books fit literary history, prosody, criticism and the history of reading. They are most useful to readers interested in older critical traditions or in how English literature was classified and evaluated before modern academic specialisation. Read more Less
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