The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great

By Henry Fielding

This early works on The history of the life of the late Mr Jonathan wild the Great is a fascinating novel of the period and still a fascinating read today. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781473392267

Henry Fielding

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was an English novelist, dramatist, and prominent magistrate. He was born into noble lineage, yet was cut off from his allowance as a young man and subsequently began a career writing plays. He wrote over 25 dramatic works, primarily satires addressing political injustice. When Fielding's career as a playwright ended with new censorship laws, he turned to writing fiction. His work as a novelist is considered to have ushered in a new genre of literature. Among his best known masterpieces are The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild (1743) and The History of Tom Jones (1749).

Reviews for The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wickedly funny satire, with lots of excellent threads to be pulled apart and explored. Fielding's experimentation with fictional forms, as well as his expert wit and deep knowledge of the political and legal cultures this book skewers, make it well worth a read. The appended biographical sketch of the real-life Jonathan Wild is a good complement to the piece, as is the preface to the volume of Fielding's works in which is was originally published.

[stillatim · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Satire this funny is a lost art. Maybe it's just that I'm particularly irritated by contemporary great-man worship (see especially: presidential biographies, founding-father blather, Darwinismism), but this was a nice breath of fresh air. Why don't more novelists these days write about the world instead of writing memoirs about their navel-fluff? I do not know.

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the greatest of 18th century novels by a long shot, but it's a quick, entertaining read. Fielding obviously made good use of his legal experience in putting together this satirical crime story, very loosely based on the life of a real London fence of the 1720s. The whole thing is set up as a spoof of the "inspirational lives of great men" idea, with Fielding putting forward a mock-serious argument that "GREAT" criminals are actually better models for us to imitate than politicians or generals. We are supposed to spot the parallels between Wild's career and Robert Walpole's, something that probably won't be at the forefront of most modern readers' minds. It doesn't really matter: the joke would work just as well if you filled in Bush, Blair, or Berlusconi. Crime may change with the centuries, but politics is still the same as ever...