張定銓等編著的《新編簡明英國文學史》的主要對像是英語專業學生，同時兼顧社會上部分自學英語者的需要，可以用作教材，也可作為寫作英國文學論文時的參考書。本書編排上打破以歷史順序逐一介紹作家的格局，采用主題線索、體裁線索、歷史線索相結合的方式。這兩種方式各有利弊：前者容易操作，容易單個記憶，缺點是作家與作家之間的有機聯繫被割斷，由於不連貫，讀來缺乏整體美感；後者操作比較困難，但是避免了前者的缺憾。為了做到簡明扼要，線條清晰，易於閱讀，本書在目錄編排、章節結構上都費了一番心思。書後附有主要作家、作品編年目錄，並有索引，以方便讀者查閉。

張定銓等編著的《新編簡明英國文學史》簡潔而 全面地介紹了英國文學發生、發展、演化、嬗變的流 程。基本框架設計頗具新意——采用主題、體裁、歷 史三結合的方式。脈絡清晰，裁取合理，評述到位。 語言淺顯流暢，內容深入淺出，易學易懂。其二戰後 的部分更是填補了同類書這方面的空白。既是大學英 語專業學生學習文學的好教材，又為廣大文學愛好者 提供了學習語言的好素材。

Chapter 1 The Beginning Period of English Literature
Chapter 2 The Glory of Poetry:From Sidney to Pope
Chapter 3 The Golden Age of English Drama
Chapter 4 The Beauty of Prose :From Malory to Pepys
Chapter 5 The Rise of the Novel
Chapter 6 A False World:English Dream from Dryden to Sheridan
Chapter 7 Emotion and Nature in Romantic Poetry
Chapter 8 Female Novelists in 19th-Century England
Chapter 9 Social Images in 19th-Century English Novels
Chapter 10 Satirical Voices and Humanistic Concerns:English Prose in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Chapter 11 Various Moods in 19th-Century English Poetry
Chapter 12 Social Life on the Stage:English Drama from Wilde to O'Casey
Chapter 13 The Erosion of Confidence:Major Novelists in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centruies
Chapter 14 The Unseen Reality;The Stream of Consciousness Novels
Chapter 15 The New Poetry in the 20th Century
Chapter 16 Spiritual Crisis and Moral Tension:20th-Century Novels before 1950
Chapter 17 Despair and Absurdity in Contemporary English Drama
Chapter 18 Diversified Topics in Contemporary English Novels
Chronological Table of Major Writers and Their Impoatant Works
Bibliography
Index