Shamela is a brilliant parody of Samuel Richardson's Pamela, in which a virtuous servant girl long resists her master's advances and is eventually 'rewarded' with marriage. Fielding's far more spirited and sexually honest heroine, by contrast, merely uses coyness and mock modesty as techniques to catch a rich husband. Joseph Andrews, Fielding's first full-length novel, can also be seen as a response to Richardson, as the lascivious Lady Booby sets out to seduce her comically chaste servant Joseph, (himself in love with the much-put-upon Fanny Goodwill). As in Tom Jones, Fielding takes a huge cast of characters out on the road and exposes them to many colourful and often hilarious adventures.

Henry Fielding (1707 - 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend, Mr. Abraham Abrams" was the first published full-length novel of the author, and indeed among the first novels in the English language. It is a story of a good-natured footman's adventures on the road home from London with his friend and mentor, the absent-minded parson Abraham Adams.

Henry Fielding (1707—1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend, Mr. Abraham Abrams" was the first published full-length novel of the author, and indeed among the first novels in the English language. It is a story of a good-natured footman's adventures on the road home from London with his friend and mentor, the absent-minded parson Abraham Adams.

Henry Fielding (1707—1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend, Mr. Abraham Abrams" was the first published full-length novel of the author, and indeed among the first novels in the English language. It is a story of a good-natured footman's adventures on the road home from London with his friend and mentor, the absent-minded parson Abraham Adams.

Henry Fielding's picaresque tale of a young man's search for his place in the world, The History of Tom Jones is edited with notes and an introduction by Thomas Keymer and Alice Wakely in Penguin Classics. A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighbouring squire - though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. But when his amorous escapades earn the disapproval of his benefactor, Tom is banished to make his own fortune. Sophia, meanwhile, is determined to avoid an arranged marriage to Allworthy's scheming nephew and escapes from her rambunctious father to follow Tom to London. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature. In his introduction Thomas Keymer discusses narrative techniques and themes, the context of eighteenth century fiction and satire, and the historical and political background of the Jacobite rebellion. This volume also includes a chronology, further reading, notes, a glossary and an appendix on Fielding's revisions. Henry Fielding (1707-1754) born at Sharpham Park, in Somerset, was a dramatist, novelist, political agitator and founder of London's first police force, the 'Bow Street Runners'. As a playwright he was a thorn in the side of Sir Robert Walpole's Whig government, who effectively legislated his retirement from the theatre with the Licensing Act of 1737. Undeterred, Fielding launched his career as a novelist in 1740 with Shamela (a parody of Samuel Richardson's Pamela), followed by Joseph Andrews (1741), an anticipation of his masterpiece, the comic novel Tom Jones (1749).

Henry Fielding (1707 - 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "Amelia" is a sentimental novel of a young couple's struggles against adversity. It tells a story of Amelia and Captain William Booth after they are married. The novel contains many allusions to classical literature and focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine intelligence.

Henry Fielding (1707 - 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "Amelia" is a sentimental novel of a young couple's struggles against adversity. It tells a story of Amelia and Captain William Booth after they are married. The novel contains many allusions to classical literature and focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine intelligence.

Henry Fielding (1707—1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "Amelia" is a sentimental novel of a young couple's struggles against adversity. It tells a story of Amelia and Captain William Booth after they are married. The novel contains many allusions to classical literature and focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine intelligence.

Henry Fielding (1707—1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "Amelia" is a sentimental novel of a young couple's struggles against adversity. It tells a story of Amelia and Captain William Booth after they are married. The novel contains many allusions to classical literature and focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine intelligence.

When 'dream husband' Xan Meo is vengefully assaulted in the garden of a London pub, he suffers head-injury, and personality-change. Like a spiritual convert, the familial paragon becomes an anti-husband, an anti-father. He submits to an alien moral system - one among many to be found in these pages. We are introduced to the inverted worlds of the 'yellow' journalist, Clint Smoker; the high priest of hardmen, Joseph Andrews; the porno tycoon, Cora Susan; and Royce Traynor, the corpse in the hold of the stricken airliner, apparently determined, even in death, to bring down the plane that carries his spouse. Meanwhile, we explore the entanglements of Henry England: his incapacitated wife, Pamela; his Chinese mistress, He Zizhen; his fifteen-year-old daughter, Victoria, the victim of a filmed 'intrusion' which rivets the world - because she is the future Queen of England, and her father, Henry IX, is its King.

Henry Fielding (1707 — 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" is his popular comic novel. It tells the story of Tom Jones, a gallant and irresistible young man. After being betrayed by jealous relatives, Tom is exiled from home and must undergo a variety of trials in his quest to be reunited with his one true love. Filled with mischief and adventure, this book is one of the most clever and witty novels ever written.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" is his popular comic novel. It tells the story of Tom Jones, a gallant and irresistible young man. After being betrayed by jealous relatives, Tom is exiled from home and must undergo a variety of trials in his quest to be reunited with his one true love. Filled with mischief and adventure, this book is one of the most clever and witty novels ever written.

Henry Fielding (1707 — 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" is his popular comic novel. It tells the story of Tom Jones, a gallant and irresistible young man. After being betrayed by jealous relatives, Tom is exiled from home and must undergo a variety of trials in his quest to be reunited with his one true love. Filled with mischief and adventure, this book is one of the most clever and witty novels ever written.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" is his popular comic novel. It tells the story of Tom Jones, a gallant and irresistible young man. After being betrayed by jealous relatives, Tom is exiled from home and must undergo a variety of trials in his quest to be reunited with his one true love. Filled with mischief and adventure, this book is one of the most clever and witty novels ever written.

In his masterly sequence of novels, Parade’s End, Ford Madox Ford traces the history of a house and a family at the time of the First World War. This is a picture of Edwardian England at its apogee. Exploring the themes of love, honour and betrayal, this contemporary of Henry James and Joseph Conrad shows himself their equal in perceptive power and literary skill.

Tom Jones is widely regarded as one of the first and most influential English novels. It is certainly the funniest. Tom Jones, the hero of the book, is introduced to the reader as the ward of a liberal Somerset squire. Tom is a generous but slightly wild and feckless country boy with a weakness for young women. Misfortune, followed by many spirited adventures as he travels to London to seek his fortune, teach him a sort of wisdom to go with his essential good-heartedness. This 'comic, epic poem in prose' will make the modern reader laugh as much as it did his forbears. Its biting satire finds an echo in today's society, for as Doris Lessing recently remarked 'This country becomes every day more like the eighteenth century, full of thieves and adventurers, rogues and a robust, unhypocritical savagery side-by-side with people lecturing others on morality'.