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101 Classics of Brit Lit Everyone Should Read, According to a Retired Literature Teacher

Based in part on my own experience and in part on Prof. John Sutherland's "Classics of British Literature ", I've tried to be representative rather than comprehensive. Professor Sutherland insists Beckett is an Irish writer, so I've included him, but I'm not so sure.
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Beowulf (Crossley-Holland)
Beowulf
1
Crossley-Holland
The Battle of Maldon (Crossley-Holland)
The Battle of Maldon
2
Crossley-Holland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Anonymous)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
3
Anonymous
The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)
The Canterbury Tales
4
Geoffrey Chaucer
Piers the Ploughman (William Langland)
Piers the Ploughman
5
William Langland
Le Morte D'Arthur (Thomas Malory)
Le Morte D'Arthur
6
Thomas Malory
The Fairie Queen (Edmund Spenser)
The Fairie Queen
7
Edmund Spenser
The Second Shepherds' Play (The Wakefield Master)
The Second Shepherds' Play
8
The Wakefield Master
Everyman (Anonymous C. 1500)
Everyman
9
Anonymous C. 1500
Dr. Faustus (Christopher Marlowe)
Dr. Faustus
10
Christopher Marlowe
Hamlet (Shakespeare)
Hamlet
11
Shakespeare
King Lear (Shakespeare (Signet))
King Lear
12
Shakespeare (Signet)
MacBeth (Shakespeare)
MacBeth
13
Shakespeare
Twelfth Night (Shakespeare (Signet))
Twelfth Night
14
Shakespeare (Signet)
Henry IV Part 1 (Shakespeare)
Henry IV Part 1
15
Shakespeare
The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster)
The Duchess of Malfi
16
John Webster
Volpone (Ben Jonson)
Volpone
17
Ben Jonson
John Donne's Poetry (John Donne)
John Donne's Poetry
18
John Donne
Paradise Lost (John Milton)
Paradise Lost
19
John Milton
The Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan)
The Pilgrim's Progress
20
John Bunyan
Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes)
Leviathan
21
Thomas Hobbes
Gulliver's Travels (Swift, Jonathan)
Gulliver's Travels
22
Swift, Jonathan
Tom Jones (Henry Fielding)
Tom Jones
23
Henry Fielding
Tristram Shandy (Laurence Sterne)
Tristram Shandy
24
Laurence Sterne
Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
Robinson Crusoe
25
Daniel Defoe
The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings (Alexander Pope)
The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings
26
Alexander Pope
Oroonoko, the Rover, and Other Works (Aphra Behn)
Oroonoko, the Rover, and Other Works
27
Aphra Behn
The School for Scandal and Other Plays (Richard Brinsley Sheridan)
The School for Scandal and Other Plays
28
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
She Stoops to Conquer (Oliver Goldsmith)
She Stoops to Conquer
29
Oliver Goldsmith
Selected Works of William Blake
Selected Works of William Blake
30
Lyrical Ballads (William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Lyrical Ballads
31
William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry (Penguin Classics)
The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry
32
Penguin Classics
The Monk (Matthew Lewis)
The Monk
33
Matthew Lewis
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein
34
Mary Shelley
Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott)
Ivanhoe
35
Sir Walter Scott
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice
36
Jane Austen
Persuasion (Jane Austen)
Persuasion
37
Jane Austen
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Jane Eyre
38
Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)
Wuthering Heights
39
Emily Brontë
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations
40
Charles Dickens
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