Masters of the English Novel: A Study of Principles and Personalities

"Masters of the English Novel: A Study of Principles and Personalities" by Richard Burton is a deep exploration of the English novel's growth, probably from around the late 1800s. It looks at the writings and impacts of important novelists from the 1700s up to when the book was written. It points out how storytelling styles, character creation, and social topics changed over time, shaping what English fiction is. The book starts by sharing the author's viewpoint on what fiction is and how it became the kind of novel we know today. Burton talks about how the word "novel" started to mean a specific kind of writing that showed real-life situations in current society, which was different from older, more imaginary stories. He talks about how early novelists like Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding were very important because they had different styles that set the stage for later books. Character studies and social opinions became important parts of storytelling because of them. Burton stresses how changes in society affected the novel's path, seeing it as a way to show human experiences and highlighting why it's important to study it in modern education.