The preface essay

Abstract

From ancient influences on the essay to the Irish essay as performance, from British imperial propaganda to African postcolonial resistance, from political pamphlets to the rise of literary professionalism, and from gastronomy to ecocriticism, The Cambridge History of the British Essay offers the first authoritative single-volume history of the form’s development within the British literary tradition. It restores to the contemporary understanding of the essay an appreciation of its richness and diversity. The fifty contributors to this volume come from widely diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to survey neglected pockets of essayistic activity by women, persons of colour, and poets and pamphleteers. As the form morphs to serve new contexts and concerns, it remains a vital genre of literary ‘attempt’ in the fields of journalism, academic study, life writing, and online essayism.