First published in 1951 (this edition in 1967), this book forms the first part of Arnold Kettle's An Introduction to the English Novel. Since the novel, like every other literary form, is a product of history, the book opens with a discussion of how and why the novel developed in England in the eighteenth century, as well as the function and background of prose fiction. The third part of the book examines six great novels from Jane Austen to George Eliot.

'A serious and rewarding study.'

The Times Literary Supplement

'His examination of some eighteenth century writers and analysis of six famous novels- from Emma to Middlemarch- have wit, authority and a sensitivity that compel the reader's attention.'

Dublin Magazine