PETER BOXALL AND BRYAN CHEYETTE (eds). The Oxford History of the Novel in English, Volume 7: British and Irish Fiction Since 1940.

Abstract

The enthusiasm in academic publishing for exhaustive literary histories is an intriguing phenomenon. At a time when the academic monograph is dying, and when other forms of reference publishing are going down the digital route, the big expensive literary history (this one has a price tag of £95) is enjoying its heyday, at least while academic libraries are still investing in books that are perceived as essential forms of reference, with a long shelf life. I should stress that I do not take a cynical view of this phenomenon—to sell, these histories have to be persuasive in their gravitas (and I have recently finished editing a large History myself, so I understand the challenges involved)—but I think it important to recognize the extent to which the publishing industry helps to fashion what we perceive to be ‘definitive’ scholarship. Given the constraints (and expectations), this volume, edited by two authoritative critics, performs well and will be an admirable and welcome addition to the reference shelves.