At long last it’s April, my favorite time of the year — a time of perfect weather, budding flowers, and reading of England! Well…it’s the last week of March, anyway, and I can’t wait anymore. If you’re new, every April I like to devote my reading entirely to English history, English literature, and English personalities. Why April? April 23rd is the feast day of England’s patron, St. George, and the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Every year brings a different mix of history and literature, and some years I strike the balance better than others. This year I’ve already amassed a proper pile of potential books to go after, not including the English lit on my classics club liist, and I’m chomping at at the bit. Let’s start the fun!
Reading Freely 
I look forward to reading about your reading romp through England. I like the concept. Perhaps I will do a similar ramble. Dickens beckons me. What titles are on your reading plan? Perhaps we will cross paths.
Postscript… FYI….https://informalinquiries2.blogspot.com/2018/03/april-in-england.html
Yesterday in the mail I received “Rifleman Dodd” (CS Forester), “Shakespeare: The World as Stage” (Bill Bryson), and “To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World”. I'll also take on at least one classic, with “Oliver Twist” and “The Vicar of Wakefield” being the two leading possibilities. I shall look forward to your own discoveries!
Looking forward to your investigation into everything English (rather than British) as always…. I may even have some US focused reading later in the year.
Good distinction but one begging for definition and limits: English rather than British.
English – England. British – Great Britain…. England, Scotland and Wales. Add N Ireland and you have the United Kingdom (although technically that's IIRC England and Scotland. Technically Wales is/used to be a principality which is why it's not on the Union flag – as it wasn't part of the union……).
In Shakespeare’s work, where does English begin? Lear? Cymbeline? Macbeth? (No) King John? Plantagenets? Tudors? Hmmm.
Probably 1086 at a guess… Essentially when the Normans took full control of the country…. ish.In Shakespeare though……… Not sure.
But if you're talking about a recognisable English language………. I'd have to go with the 2nd half of the 17th century.
Sounds to me like King John gets the nod.
King John was 24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216 so 13th century. I was thinking more Samuel Pepys 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703.
I like the importance of two dates for English history: King John ascends to the throne 1199, and Shakespeare writes the play 1596. How English can anything get! Well, of course, while reading the play, we could throw in some steak and kidney pie, and wash it down with a few pints.