Jude the Obscure, Hardy’s last novel, caused a public furor when it was first published, with its fearless and challenging exploration of class and sexual relationships.

Epic and tragic in its scope, ‘King Lear’ explores a king’s demise into madness and insanity when he is betrayed by two of his manipulative and scheming daughters.

The book was first published in September 1885 amid considerable fanfare, with billboards and posters around London announcing “The Most Amazing Book Ever Written”. It became an immediate best seller. By the late 19th century, explorers were uncovering ancient civilisations and their remains around the world, such as Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and the empire of Assyria. Inner Africa remained largely unexplored and King Solomon’s Mines, one of the first novels of African adventure published in English, captured the public’s imagination.