Philip Hensher’s A History of the Novel in Britain is praised as an exceptionally lively and authoritative account of British fiction from Daniel Defoe to Zadie Smith. The reviewer argues that its chief strength is its connected narrative: rather than treating authors and movements as separate academic subjects, Hensher traces how novelists influenced, challenged and responded to one another across two centuries.

Hensher’s experience as a novelist is said to sharpen his criticism, particularly in discussions of Dickens’s use of tense and Henry James’s free indirect style. The book examines the commercial conditions behind major works, including Samuel Richardson’s control of his copyrights, Henry Fielding’s publishing support, and Jane Austen’s poorly produced 1813 edition of Pride and Prejudice; it also reassesses overlooked or unfashionable writers such as Hannah More, Tobias Smollett and Arnold Bennett.