Everyman Classics: The History Of Mr Polly

The riotous adventures of an improbable musketeer in flight from Victorian propriety. Alfred Polly, bankrupt gentleman's outfitter, hates the whole scheme of things. Head full of half-digested chivalry, body wracked by dyspepsia, he recalls both the boisterous dramas of youth and the dreadful restrictions of a dull marriage - and so resolves to kill himself. Unexpected events bring him instead to a new heroic life and, at last, a chance of happiness.

With his hilarious descriptions of Victorian domestic ceremony and inflammable social life, seen through the eyes of an almost inarticulate rebel, Wells satirises the dead hand of convention and celebrates the most reprehensible escapism.

The only paperback edition available, with introduction, text summary, selected criticism and chronology of Wells's life and times.