I once read a critic who said that THE WARDEN is one of the most perfect books ever written, and I agree with him. The whole series is delightful, not the least because you can see Trollope develop as a novelist as his characters become more complex and fully rounded. This series lacks the decadence and political speculation of the Palliser novels and is suffused with the gentle glow of English country life through the middle third of the 19th century.