The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature

Is literary history necessary? In the strictest sense, the answer must be no: it is possible to read books with appreciation and enjoyment without cluttering one's head with dates and movements. And it is demonstrably possible to write great literature with little or no sense of one's place in a great tradition.

what we desire is to make the reading of poems, plays, and novels more satisfying because better informed, and more profound because more comprehending.