The first volume of the present edition, covering the history of English literature from its inception to the end of the XVII. It is published for technical reasons in two editions .. First issue (published in 1943 . ) dedicated to English literature of the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance and sub-readers to Shakespeare's work; the second issue covers the history of English literature from Shakespeare to the end of the 18th century. The first issue of the second volume of the History of English Literature, currently being prepared for publication, will include sections: “Romanticism”, “Classical realism in England of the mid-19th century” and “Socio-political literature and poetry of the Chartist era”. The second and final issue of the second volume will include contemporary literature. The first volume of the History of English Literature was prepared for publication by the A. Institute of World Literature. M. the Gorky Academy of Sciences of the USSR in May 1941. During the years of great. The author's team of "History of English Literature" suffered a heavy loss in the face of three of its members: missing since the fall of 1941 Entered voluntarily into the ranks of . the Red Army Doctorate of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR M. D. Zablu-Dovsky; died during the evacuation from Leningrad in March 1942. Doctoral student of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR M. N. Gutner; died in March 1943. Associate Professor of the Red Army . A. Kuzmin .