History of English Literature

Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (1828-1893) was a French literary critic and historian. Taine had a profound effect on French literature, influencing the works of Zola, Bourget and Maupassant. The volume of his history of English literature begins with Ben Johnson, Shakespeare, and Milton and moves through the Roisterers and Worldlings -- including Sheridan -- of the Restoration.