Masters of the English Novel: A Study of Principles and Personalities

The author traces the evolution of the English novel by analyzing representative practitioners and contrasting two main approaches—realistic attention to social detail and psychological analysis versus romantic emphasis on action and imagination. The study moves from eighteenth-century origins through formative figures such as Richardson and Fielding, treats Austen, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Trollope, and discusses French influence, Hardy, Meredith, Stevenson and the American contribution. A preface explains the critical method of focusing on established masters to illustrate principles and personalities, and chapters combine historical overview with close readings that show how fiction reflects changing social and intellectual currents.