The King James Bible of 1611 has been one of the richest sources for English language and literature for nearly four centuries and is itself a work of the greatest poetic beauty. George Steiner's introduction illuminates the Bible's profound effect on the history of English literature and includes a moving personal reading of the greatest of texts.

Probably the popular favourite among Jane Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice was the first to be written (1796-7), when the author was just twenty-one.