Includes bibliography (p. 226-231) and index.

Machine generated contents note: `My Own Darling Child': The Writing of Pride and Prejudice -- `A Very Superior Work': Reactions to Pride and Prejudice -- `A Truth Universally Acknowledged': The Famous First Sentence -- `Bright and Sparkling': The Style of Pride and Prejudice -- `As Charming a Creature': The Heroine, Elizabeth Bennet -- `Mr Darcy ... is the Man!': The Hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy -- `The Female Line': Her Relations -- `The Same Noble Line': His Relations -- `Delighting in the Ridiculous': Other Characters -- Pride and Prejudice Goes Overseas: The Translations -- `Pictures of Perfection': Illustrating and Covering Pride and Prejudice -- Did They All Live Happily Ever After?: Sequels and Adaptations -- Bonnets and Bosoms: Film and Theatrical Versions -- Mugs and Skateboards: Selling Pride and Prejudice -- `Behold Me Immortal': Pride and Prejudice Now and in the Future.

In 2013 Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice turns 200. Again and again in polls conducted around the world, it is regularly chosen as the favourite novel of all time. Read and studied from Cheltenham to China, there are Jane Austen Societies from Boston to Buenos Aires, dedicated to sharing the delights of Jane Austen's masterpiece. Here is the tale of how Pride and Prejudice came to be written, its first reception in a world that didn't take much notice of it and then its growing popularity.