Jane Austen and the State of the Nation [Hardcover]

Jane Austen and the State of the Nation explores Jane Austen's references to politics and to political economics and concludes that Austen was a liberal Tory who remained consistent in her political agenda throughout her career as a novelist. Read with this historical background, Austen's books emerge as state-of-the-nation or political novels.List of Illustrations
Chronology of Jane Austen and Economics
Introduction
1. The Juvenilia: A Liberal Conservative
2. Sense and Sensibility: Poor Law Reform
3. Pride and Prejudice: The Speenhamland System
4. Northanger Abbey: The Restriction Act
5. Mansfield Park: The Condition of England
6. Emma: William Pitt ' 's Utopia
7. Persuasion: The Post-Waterloo Crash
8. Sanditon: A Political Novel
Bibliography
Index

Jane Austen and the State of the Nation will be of great interest to scholars and students alike for its admirable, deep delving into the domestic economic and English political world in which Austen and her fiction were so obviously immersed. Devoney Looser, Professor of English, Arizona State University, USA

Sheryl Craig is an Austen scholar with a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature from the University of Kansas. She has published dozens of articles on Jane Austen and has lectured on Austen at regional, national, and international meetings and conferences.