To Mr. Walter de la Mare and Messrs. James B. Pinker & Sons, for an extract from "The Listeners"; to Mrs. James Elroy Flecker and Messrs. A. P. Watt & Son, for an extract from the late Mr. James Elroy Flecker's _Hassan_, and to Messrs. Macmillan & Co., Ltd., for a quotation from _The Iliad of Homer_ (edited by Lang, Leaf and Myers) and for a short passage from the late Mr. Thomas Hardy's _The Dynasts_. {xiii} CONTENTS PART I DICKENS, SCOTT, SHAKESPEARE, THE BIBLE CHAPTER I SOME OF DICKENS' NOVELS AND CHARACTERS II CHARLES DICKENS: BOY AND MAN III WHAT DICKENS DID FOR HUMANITY IV THE WAVERLEY NOVELS V SCOTT'S OWN STORY VI THE TEMPEST AND OTHER OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS VII SHAKESPEARE: THE GREAT WORLD ITSELF VIII STORIES FROM THE BIBLE IX LIVING WATERS PART II ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE X DUMAS. HUGO. STEVENSON XI ROBINSON CRUSOE. LORNA DOONE. HEREWARD. WESTWARD HO! ROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS. TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. MIDSHIPMAN EASY. PETER SIMPLE. TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST. THE GOLDEN DOG {xiv} XII LAVENGRO. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. TOM SAWYER. HUCKLEBERRY FINN. KIM. SARD HARKER. THE LIVING FOREST PART III SONGS OF HEROES, MYTHS, FAIRY TALES AND MARVELS XIII THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY. GREEK HEROES. TANGLEWOOD TALES. THE WONDER BOOK XIV ÆSOP'S FABLES. GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. MALORY'S MORTE D'ARTHUR XV ALICE IN WONDERLAND. THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS. THE GOLDEN AGE. THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. FOUR BOOKS BY A. A. MILNE. RIP VAN WINKLE XVI THE JUNGLE BOOKS. JUST SO STORIES. PUCK OF POOK'S HILL. REWARDS AND FAIRIES. THE BLUE BIRD. PETER PAN. KILMENY PART IV BALLADS, LAYS, AND STORIES IN VERSE XVII PERCY'S RELIQUES. CHEVY CHASE AND THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE. SIR PATRICK SPENS. THE NORTHERN MUSE {xv} XVIII THE LADY OF THE LAKE. MARMION. JOHN GILPIN. EDINBURGH AFTER FLODDEN. HORATIUS. THE ARMADA XIX HIAWATHA. FRENCH CHANSONS IN QUEBEC. A CHRISTMAS SONG PART V SOME GREAT IMAGINATIVE WRITERS XX DANTE. CERVANTES. SPENSER XXI JOHN BUNYAN AND THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS XXII THACKERAY. MEREDITH. HARDY XXIII JANE AUSTEN. GEORGE ELIOT. THE BRONTES PART VI HISTORY, POLITICS, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVEL XXIV WHAT IS HISTORY? XXV THE MEANING OF POLITICS XXVI HISTORIES XXVII BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON XXVIII READING FOR WHAT YOU WANT To BE XXIX TRAVEL AND DISCOVERY PART VII ESSAYS, CRITICISM, LETTERS, DIARIES XXX CHARLES LAMB AND HAZLITT: ESSAYISTS AND CRITICS XXXI LETTERS AND LETTER WRITERS. PEPYS AND OTHER DIARISTS {xvi} PART VIII POETRY XXXII POETRY AND BEAUTY XXXIII POETRY AND TIME XXXIV READING FOR YOUR OWN COUNTRY. ENGLISH LITERATURE AND ITS BRANCHES AFTERWORD INDEX {1} PART I DICKENS, SCOTT, SHAKESPEARE, THE BIBLE {3} CHAPTER I SOME OF DICKENS' NOVELS AND CHARACTERS