Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy arrived in a world without cars, telephones or aeroplanes, a time when women had no vote, divorce carried different consequences for each sex, and a university education was reserved for the wealthy. Over his lifetime he saw airships drifting over London, divorce law reformed, schooling opened to more people, women win the vote, and religious belief come under open challenge. Hardy took these disputes head on in Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, and his novels still speak to present-day anxieties.

Patricia Ingham looks at how Hardy's own experiences fed into his fiction, and how the novels in turn reflect the world around him. She also considers how later film and television adaptations offer fresh frameworks for reading his work.

The volume comes with a chronology of Hardy's life alongside the events of his era, lists of further reading and useful websites, illustrations, and a detailed index.