This bold and timely book challenges the recent and worrying decline of English Literature A Level and presents a set of cardinal principles that should underpin successful teaching and learning in the subject.

Expert contributors make the case that English Literature at A Level is in danger of losing touch with its distinctive and living character as it has evolved over time and present a radical, democratic reaffirmation of the core principles of the subject. This reaffirmation underlines a commitment to textual knowledge and personal engagement in Literature.

Living Literature: Sharing Meaning and Experience in the A Level Classroom begins by tracing the history of how English Literature A Level has reached its current state. It then offers thirteen fascinating personal reflections on the teaching of individual texts in the context of that situation, twelve from a range of teachers across the country at different points in their careers, and one from a recent student. It concludes with a joint statement on the rethinking that is essential if the subject is firmly to re-establish its own distinctive place in the curriculum.

Teachers of English Literature at every stage of their career will find this an essential, urgent read, as will policy makers and researchers.

This crucially important book comes at a critical moment for the subject. The editors and contributors include national leaders in debates about English at secondary level: everyone teaching, or supporting, the discipline should read this book and engage with its ideas and arguments.- Robert Eaglestone, Royal Holloway, University of London