本书收入25位英美作家的30篇散文名篇,包括自17世纪的培根到20世纪30年代的D.H.劳伦斯等英国作家,以及自18世纪初的富兰克林到19世纪中期的部分美国作家的作品。有些是独立成篇的随笔,有些是从长篇著作中节选的片断。英美散文名篇浩如烟海,本书不打算求全,而且也不可能做到。不过,收入本书的应当说均属脍炙人口的佳作,其中有些也是国内外教材中必选的文本。此外,约有1/3的篇章曾是本人在教学中选用过的,实践证明它们大多受到比较广泛的欢迎。

francis bacon
of truth
thomas hobbes
of the natural condition of mankind as concerning their feecity and misery
john milton
areopa#tlca (excerpts)
john dryden
shakespeare and ben jooson compared
joseph addison
party patches
sunday in the country
richard steele
recollections of
samuel johnson
pope and dryden compared
letter to the right honourable the eart of chesterfield
oliver goldsmith
the man in black
benjamin franklin
the autobiogrphy (excerpt)
chades lamb
in praise of chimney-sweephers
old china
william hazlitt
thomas de quincey
on the knocking at the caate m macbeth
washington irving
the&nbs