Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy was born in June, 1840, and died in January, 1928. He grew up in Higherbockhampton, Dorset, the son of a stonemason. Trained as an architect he began writing poetry in the 1860s but did not publish his first novel, Desperate Remedies, until 1871. Far from the Madding Crowd, published in 1874, was Hardy's fourth novel. A classic tale of passion and betrayal, it was a literary success, achieving excellent critical reveiws and widespread popularity.