English Literature. An Anthology for Students offers a new and comprehensive collection of the most important English literary texts from Beowulf to essays of Virginia Woolf and beyond. The two-volume selection was based on reading lists and curricula of Polish departments of English studies. The original idea was to offer a selection of texts as close as possible to actual expectations of teachers and students of departments of English studies, teacher training colleges, departments of applied linguistics, and any other schools where history of English literature is taught.

The selection should be an appropriate basis for a variety of courses. In order to make it more flexible we decided to introduce several complete longer texts such as Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or The Rape of the Lock, leaving the choice of excerpts for critical analysis to the users according to the specific needs of their classes and students. The texts have been supplemented with extensive critical footnotes and explanations of the more rare and obscure vocabulary, there are also biographical notes introducing their authors.

We hope that our anthology will be an excellent source for all courses in history of English literature. However, it may also serve as an introduction to English literary texts to all non-academic readers who are ready to take the challenge of reading them in the original.