Other editions of book Barchester Towers: By Anthony Trollope - Illustrated

Barchester Towers concerns the leading clergy of the cathedral city of Barchester. The much loved bishop having died, all expectations are that his son, Archdeacon Grantly, will succeed him. Instead, owing to the passage of the power of patronage to a new Prime Minister, a newcomer, the far more Evangelical Bishop Proudie, gains the see. His wife, Mrs Proudie, exercises an undue influence over the new bishop, making herself as well as the bishop unpopular with most of the clergy of the diocese. Her interference to veto the reappointment of the universally popular Mr Septimus Harding (protagonist of Trollope's earlier novel, The Warden) as warden of Hiram's Hospital is not well received, even though she gives the position to a needy clergyman, Mr Quiverful, with 14 children to support.

One of the most enduringly popular novelists of the Victorian era, English writer ANTHONY TROLLOPE (1815-1882) created entertainingly rambling fictional explorations of towering social issues, from class and money to politics and gender roles. Trollope has been a huge influence on modern storytelling, from the bumblings of the upper-crust of P.G Wodehouse's yarns to the intricate, interwoven, interpersonal narratives of television soap operas. Barchester Towers, first published in 1857, is Part II of Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire, a series of six novels set in the invented county of Barsetshire. When the beloved bishop of the cathedral town of Barchester dies, social intrigue develops over who will ascend to his position: will it be Archdeacon Grantly-whom the great 20th-century English novelist Hugh Walpole deemed one of "the great figures in English fiction"-or will it be a politically connected newcomer to the town? Expansive, addictive reading, this prototypical Trollope novel is a rousing tale of a not-so-genteel battle for social dominance that reminds us-in the most pleasurable manner-that bullies and tyrants are found even in the most rarefied of circles.

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Barchester Towers, published in 1857, is the 2nd novel in Anthony Trollope's series known as the "Chronicles of Barsetshire". Among other things it satirises the then raging antipathy in the Church of England between High Church and Evangelical adherents. Trollope began writing this book in 1855. He wrote constantly, and made himself a writing-desk so he could continue writing while travelling by train. "Pray know that when a man begins writing a book he never gives over," he wrote in a letter during this period. "The evil with which he is beset is as inveterate as drinking – as exciting as gambling." And, years later in his autobiography, he observed "In the writing of Barchester Towers I took great delight. The bishop and Mrs. Proudie were very real to me, as were also the troubles of the archdeacon and the loves of Mr. Slope." But when he submitted his finished work, his publisher, William Longman, initially turned it down, finding much of it to be full of "vulgarity and exaggeration". More recent critics offer a more sanguine opinion. "Barchester Towers is many readers' favourite Trollope", wrote The Guardian, which included it in its list of "1000 novels everyone must read".

One of the most enduringly popular novelists of the Victorian era, English writer ANTHONY TROLLOPE (1815-1882) created entertainingly rambling fictional explorations of towering social issues, from class and money to politics and gender roles. Trollope has been a huge influence on modern storytelling, from the bumblings of the upper-crust of P.G Wodehouse's yarns to the intricate, interwoven, interpersonal narratives of television soap operas. Barchester Towers, first published in 1857, is Part II of Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire, a series of six novels set in the invented county of Barsetshire. When the beloved bishop of the cathedral town of Barchester dies, social intrigue develops over who will ascend to his position: will it be Archdeacon Grantly-whom the great 20th-century English novelist Hugh Walpole deemed one of "the great figures in English fiction"-or will it be a politically connected newcomer to the town? Expansive, addictive reading, this prototypical Trollope novel is a rousing tale of a not-so-genteel battle for social dominance that reminds us-in the most pleasurable manner-that bullies and tyrants are found even in the most rarefied of circles.