It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's perfect comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.

Pride and Prejudice seems as vital today as ever, writes Anna Quindlen in her introduction to this Modern Library edition.

It is a pure joy to read. Eudora Welty agrees: The gaiety is unextinguished, the irony has kept its bite, the reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished. [It is] irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be.

This volume is the companion to the BBC television series, a lavish production aired on the Arts and Entertainment Network.