Amazon.com description: Product Description: Thomas Hardy was one of the greatest British authors during the Victorian era. Hardy was highly critical of Victorian culture and also focused on the declining rural society. Though Hardy was a great poet it is his classic novels, such as Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure, that he is best known for. The Mayor of Casterbridge is a classic story that starts out at a country fair when an extremely drunk man quarrels with his wife and ends up auctioning off his family to a sailor.