George Levine Boeken

Introduction by Edward J. Larson Perhaps the most readable and accessible of the great works of scientific inquiry, The Origin of Species sold out its first printing on the very day it was published in 1859. Theologians quickly labeled Charles Darwin the most dangerous man in England and, as the Saturday Review noted, the uproar over the book quickly “passed beyond the bounds of the study and lecture-room into the drawing-room and the public street.” Based largely on Darwin’s experience as a naturalist while on a five-year voyage aboard H. M. S. Beagle, The Origin of Species set forth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challenged contemporary beliefs about divine providence and the immutability of species. This Modern Library edition includes a Foreword by the Pulitzer Prize–winning science historian Edward J. Larson, an introductory historical sketch, and a glossary Darwin later added to the original text.

A powerful new account of Hardy's novels by a leading scholar, emphasizing their affirmative elements and their often poetic prose. George Levine provides an overview of Hardy's entire fictional canon, drawing attention to the influence of Charles Darwin on his work and Hardy's own impact on Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence.