History of English Literature Volume 1 (of 3)

"History of English Literature Volume 1 (of 3)" by Hippolyte Taine is a mid-19th-century exploration of how English literature was shaped by things like ancestry, surroundings, and history itself. It's like a detective story, aiming to figure out the thoughts and feelings behind great books and the cultures that made them by starting with the Saxons and the lands they lived in. Taine shows how the tough landscapes of the North Sea affected the early English people, making them strong but also quick to fight, and how their world of wild nature became the basis for stories filled with their experiences and emotions. This sets the stage for understanding how later periods, their societies, and their writings are all connected.