Product Description
The book centers on the character of Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity, whose charitable income far exceeds the purpose for which it was intended. Young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he considers to be an abuse of privilege, despite being in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. The novel was highly topical as a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate. But Trollope uses this specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality. This edition includes an introduction and notes by David Skilton and illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not for everyone
I decided to read this book after watching the BBC version, staring Donald Pleasence, The Barchester Chronicles.The story was charming, witty and pointed in its approach to the hierarchy of the 19th century Anglican Church.

The book, while interesting, is not for everyone.If you like your literature to be concise and to the point, you'll probably find this a laborious read.Like poetry, literature--especially literature through time--has a sort of cadence, a rhythm and meter that is distinctive for its period, which takes a little getting used to when first encountered.Probably nothing makes it more apparent than reading a work like "The Warden" for the first time.Reading "Sherlock Holmes" by Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Four Novels and Four Short Story Collections in One Volume, or "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austin, Pride And Prejudice, will also do so.All of these 19th century authors share a similar style of very wordy prose.They "tell" rather than "show," as a writing class instructor once noted to me some time ago.

For those of you who enjoy either Sherlock or Pride, Trollope's "The Warden" will be an engaging read.You will have to get into the author's stride with respect to his prose, but once given the chance, he will definitely entertain.For those who really can't get into the story this way, I'd suggest the BBC version.Much of the dialogue is pure Trollope, while much of the descriptive verbiage is absent because the set, costume, and mannerisms of the characters carry it nonverbally for you.

For those of you who need their cinematic action to be quick, short and to the point, even the BBC version will probably bore you too. The entire action of the piece is based on personal interactions between the characters and on the growing experience of the viewer with the individual characters and their personalities.In short, it's like getting to know your neighbors; if you're a 1st impressions kind of person, you won't want to waste time with this version either.If you enjoy getting to know people over time and enjoy old friends, you'll love it.

A Necessary Start
The series of twelve novels that Anthony Trollope wrote about the fictional county of Barchester, England and its inhabitants (I'm including the Palliser books in that calculation) are among the greatest, most entertaining achievements of English literature.And here's where it all begins: "The Warden," a short, sweet tale of a clergyman's burgeoning social conscience, and the uproar that causes in a small, rural community.Perhaps this makes "The Warden" sound more dry than it is; it's actually an amusing, warm-hearted read.Be forewarned that it's not Trollope's best (he's still feeling his way both as a writer and a social critic), but it's the novel that brought him to public attention, and it's essential reading for those starting the series.In particular, it sets up conflicts and personal dynamics that are key to the novel's immediate successor, the brilliant and hilarious "Barchester Towers."Were "The Warden" to exist on its own, it could be dismissed as a slight, second-rate work; as a prelude to what follows, it's important and indispensible.

A Carefully Written, Moving Novel
The Warden develops carefully and slower than many of the modern novels I have read. I was tempted to abandon it after a couple of chapters...Thank goodness I stuck with it.I ended up completing the latter half of the book in a few days because by then I was fully intrigued and encaptured by the story.

It seems like not much can happen in this book after the main characters are introduced and all seems well. What does happen is intense and emotional.Trollope illustrates the significance of relationships to people and how detrimental it can be when friendships are damaged.

Trollope excels at developing the characters and the plot which as benign as it seems delivers a staggering blow to readers.

This is a book that was enjoyable, but I think its greatest value is in the reflection it inspires.I look forward to continuing to read the Trollope books.

Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

Not for profit
Septimus Hardy is that rarity - an honest, "disinterested", Church of England cleric. For 10 years, he has held the living as warden at a charitable "hospital", founded centuries ago for impoverished but worthy tradesmen. When in the interest of reform, John Bold, Warden Hardy's daughter's suitor, brings a suit against the church for diverting alms to the clergy rather than the poor.

All manner of trouble arises when Mr. Hardy's conscience clashes with the plans of his Arch Deacon, who also happens to be his son-in-law. Employing subtle (and sometimes not) satire to age old conflicts betweenright/wrong, church/society, rich/poor, law/common sense, Trollope prods his readers to consider the nature of charity and society's obligations to the less fortunate. Hepresents both sides with fairness, providing no easy solution to a problem that is always with us. Thought provoking and still topical, though originally published in 1855.

"He was not so anxious to prove himself right, as to be so."
For many years, the kindly and unambitious Rev. Septimus Harding has been warden of Hiram's Hospital, a residence for poor men who have nowhere else to go, a place where they may live comfortably, get a small stipend from the estate of Mr. Hiram, and live out their lives in peace.The warden of Hiram's Hospital has also been living at peace, until John Bold, a young reformer, questions why Mr. Harding, as warden, gets eight hundred pounds a year for accepting the title of warden, which does not require him to do much else.The bedesmen living in the hospital get only shillings, and Bold wonders whether the real intentions of Hiram's bequest to establish the hospital, more than four hundred years ago, are being honored in the present.

In this first of the Barsetshire Chronicles, published in 1855, Trollope establishes the gently satiric tone and mood which pervade the series.Here he focuses on the church, its clergymen, and their roles in society, showing Rev. Harding to be a man of honor and trust (though a bit too comfortable and unimaginative to ask the hard questions) and contrasting him with Archdeacon Grantly, his son-in-law, who enjoys the power and perks of his position and feels that the world owes him whatever what he can get from it.The stultifying church hierarchy sees its role as almost royal, above the fray and dedicated to sustaining itself.

The conflict which arises when John Bold and Tom Towers, an arrogant newspaperman, become allies in the investigation of the warden's position becomes even stronger when some of the bedesmen are encouraged to demand one hundred pounds a year.Rev. Harding becomes the humiliated subject of editorials, pamphlets, and even a novel showing the "abuses" of his power.Dr. Pessimist Anticant, the pamphleteer, is thought to be a parody of Thomas Carlyle, and the novelist, Mr. Popular Sentiment, is thought to be Charles Dickens.The fact that John Bold, who started it all, is in love with the warden's daughter creates further complications.

Trollope is a delightful writer whose style is to entertain the reader while raising some thoughtful questions.Though he takes his writing seriously and creates memorable characters behaving, as a rule, like real people, he does not take himself seriously, nor does he feel the need to be a social reformer.His humor and amiability give a freshness to novels like this one, which, despite its age, is amusing and perceptive.His later novels, like The Way We Live Now, are far more complex--but just as much fun.n Mary Whipple

Barchester Towers
Doctor Thorne (Barsetshire Novels)
Framley Parsonage

... Read more

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A generous selection of Kipling's eminently quotable works, including the Nation's Favourite Poem "If-", "Mandalay" and the moving "Recessional". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An exciting recording
This is an exciting recording by multiple readers. Some poems are recited by Boris Karloff, who is best known from the film version of Frankenstein. Karloff is the stand-out in the group. Other more recent speakers do well also. Recommended. ... Read more

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Anthony Trollope is most famous for his portrait of the professional and landed classes of Victorian England, especially in his Palliser and Barsetshire novels. But he was also the author of one of the most fascinating autobiographies of the nineteenth century. Trollope was born in 1815, the son of a formidable mother and a tragically unsuccessful father. Poor, ill-dressed, awkward, and sullen, he was the victim of vicious bullying at Harrow and Winchester. But he managed later to carve out a successful career in the General Post Office while devoting every spare moment (except in hunting season) to writing. How he paid his groom to wake him every morning at 5.30 a.m. and disciplined himself to write 250 words every quarter of an hour has become part of literary legend. His efforts resulted in over sixty books, fortune, and fame, and in An Autobiography Trollope looks back on his life with some satisfaction. The facts he reveals and the opinions he records - about Dickens and George Eliot, politics and the civil service - are as revealing as the judgments he passes on his own character. ... Read more

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Author
Trollope recites how the farm at Harrow on which he grew up was the grave of his father's hopes.Michael Sadlier's introduction points out that Trollope's AUTOBIOGRAPHY impaired his popularity.The business of being an author held no mystique for him.At nineteen Trollope was a hobbledehoy.He had no aspirations for his future life. His mother's best novels were written when she was nursing ill family members while living in Belgium.Trollope began to keep a journal at age fifteen and continued the practice until he destroyed his journal in 1870.

The first seven years of his postal career were spent in London.Anthony experienced some of the woes he imposed on his characters.A woman appeared at the post office asking in a loud voice why he wouldn't marry her daughter.A tailor's bill compunded until it was a substantial amount.During that early period Anthony did learn to read French and Latin.After seven years Anthony Trollope volunteered to go to a position in Ireland.He was to live at Banagher on the Shannon.He discovered there one of the joys of his life, riding to the hounds.His new life was opulent in comparison to his old one.

When Trollope married he feels a better life was commenced.Visiting Salisbury for the post office, (he had been transferred back to England), he conceived the story of THE WARDEN.Starting with BARCHESTER TOWERS he did much of his writing in railway coaches.Trollope found George Lewes to be the acutest critic known to him.In 1861 the author became a member of the Garrick Club.In 1864 he was elected to the Athenaeum.Trollope revered Thackeray and George Eliot as English novelists.He notes, though, that George Eliot lacked ease.The book continues on and gives the author's view of politics and a description of his attempt to be elected to the House of Commons.To his dismay his Palliser novel, THE PRIME MINISTER, was not a popular and critical success.

This posthumous work is a success, I believe. ... Read more

Product Description
The book centers on the character of Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity, whose charitable income far exceeds the purpose for which it was intended. Young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he considers to be an abuse of privilege, despite being in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. The novel was highly topical as a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate. But Trollope uses this specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality. This edition includes an introduction and notes by David Skilton and illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sowing Good Seeds : The Northwest Suffrage Campaigns of Susa
This book relays the Story of Susan B. Anthony with great detail. I was amazed with the history of Susan B. Anthony and her battle. The author includes actual newspaper quotes from the time of Susan B. Anthony. I wouldrecommend this book as a research tool for the life of Susan B. Anthony. ... Read more

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The story of the unscrupulous Ferdinand Lopez, who succeeds in being selected as a parliamentary candidate for the Palliser pocket borough. A blackmail scandal involving Lady Glencora involves the Prime Minister in making a payment to Lopez, an affair which then appears in the gutter press. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

First novel a success
Anthony Trollope's first novel, and a good one. Set in Ireland in the 1830s, it tells the story of a proud but destitute family and their tragic downfall at the hands of a scoundrel. Myles Ussher is an English police captain sent to Ireland to help stop illegal whiskey making. Feemy Macdermot falls deeply in love with him, though he has no intention of returning that love. The locals hate him, and Feemy's brother Thady, when he learns of Ussher's merely using Feemy, kills him in a rage when he believes Ussher is abducting her against her will (they are actually eloping). A trial ensues and after some exciting intervals involving escapes, Thady is convicted and hanged.

Trollope offers a sympathetic look at Ireland's troubles during this time period; indeed the "innocent" Feemy might symbolically represent that country while the unfeeling, spiteful Ussher is England. Trollope had spent a good deal of time in Ireland and knew the country and the people well; his use of Irish dialogue is natural and realistic. The trial scene is pretty exciting, and Trollope's broad humor is already clearly evident. The use of the dilapidated Macdermot mansion as the starting and ending point, with the main plot sandwiched inbetween as flashback, gives the novel a cinematic touch. The author would achieve greater novels as his career progressed, but this initial production highlights an auspicious start. ... Read more

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Product Description
Edward Arnold started his publishing house on New Year's Day 1890. He was the nephew of the poet and critic Matthew Arnold, grandson of the school reformer Dr Thomas Arnold, and had as an aunt the novelist Mrs. Humphrey Ward. The firm continued to develop along its several different channels. After World War I, Arnold himself continued to publish fiction, memoirs, and books on travel, religion and field sports. He also published in medicine, and it is testimony to his judgement that so many of the early books remain standard works. Edward Arnold retired in 1980, to be succeeded by his younger partners B.W.Fagan and F.P.Dunn. The principle change was a greater concentration on the academic and educational lists. Advanced science publishing, begun in the 1920s by Dunn, developed rapidly in the 1930s - a number of the titles are still in print in revised editions. But Hitler ensured that it was a short decade in publishing, as in much else, and the new momentum dwindled as staff were conscripted and paper rationed. The cloud had a silver lining in the shape of R.A.Butler's 1944 Education Act.That effectively provided the opportunity for Edward Arnold's substantial postwar involvement in secondary school publishing. The post-war period also witnessed continuing growth in medicine and science and the establishment of publishing in further education and in the humanities and the social sciences. The importance of export sales was appreciated more fully than ever and this led eventually to the establishment of a number of agencies and subsidiary companies throughout the world. Fagan and Dunn were succeeded by Tom Clare, who became chairman in 1982, but died three years later. He was followed by John Morgan, who retired as chairman in 1971 to be succeeded by Anthony Hamilton. The 1970s were, on the whole, good years for the company; publishing in all spheres - academic, medical, and educational - moved up a gear. But in the early 1980s there were prescient signs that the world was changing: it was becoming increasingly difficult for Arnold to remain independent. On 6 May 1987 Edward Arnold became the academic and professional division of Hodder & Stoughton - with the facilities and scale of operations to publish successfully in an increasingly competitive world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Underrated genius
How come I never learned about Ted Rogers Sr. in school in England, or from my dad who taught me how to build radios as a kid? My Canadian wife Laurie-Ann was never taught about him either. Yet he almost single handedly propelled the fledgeling radio industry into mass production with his development of the detector vacuum tube, allowing sets to be powered from a light socket rather than unwieldy batteries. His engineering designs allowed his signals to be heard half way around the world. Then, with his pioneering station CFRB (RB stands for Rogers Batteryless) he galvanized the programming content being offered to the public. In these matters he was the world leader. So I say again, how come we didn't learn about him in school? Ian Anthony probably felt the same, and his book tells the story of this Canadian genius, his Quaker roots and family background, finally bringing us up to date with a brief survey of the spectacular business success of his son Ted Rogers Jr. whose name is known to every Canadian.
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This new handbook is designed as a highly practical guide to the complex law of sentencing in the context of sentencing guidelines. The overarching guidelines are fully described in the text and the updated magistrates' court guidelines are set out in full. The handbook offers comprehensive coverage of the law and practice of sentencing relating to both magistrates' court and the Crown Court. Prepared for both defense litigators, to assist in preparation, and advocates, to assist in presentation, it will prove invaluable as a quick reference in court. The book also helps prosecutors with their duties as to sentencing effective under the Criminal Procedure Rules from 6th April 2009. In addition, the free accompanying CD-ROM enables fast and easy access to relevant guidance from the Sentencing Guidelines Council. "The Sentencing Handbook" takes full account of the: Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000; Criminal Justice Act 2003; and, Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The guide also incorporates all the expected forthcoming changes likely to be introduced in 2009 such as those on case allocation and the new Youth Court sentences. ... Read more

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Fully revised and updated, the second edition of "Fixed Fees in the Criminal Courts" helps practitioners to ensure their fees are processed quickly and efficiently. Considerable changes have been made to the regime since its introduction in January 2008. This new edition takes account of the developments, offering: fee tables that are VAT exclusive; a new section on virtual courts; coverage of changes to the LSC Schedules; a new section on applications to the court to vary pre-charge bail conditions; coverage of the amendments to fixed fees in the Crown court; and more information on core costs, enhancement, and graduated fees with greater reference to the relevant authorities. The author offers an invaluable overview of the procedures involved to help practitioners understand the changes to the criminal costs regime and expedite fees. This handy guide provides easy access to all the necessary guidance and codes for filling in Legal Services Commission (LSC) forms. It contains all the information needed to deliver bills for legally aided criminal cases in the police station, magistrates' and Crown courts. ... Read more