The first of Trollope s Barchester series, "The Warden" represents the beginning of one of the most enduring collections of British fiction. It is, however, an immensely compelling story in its own right, told with the author s usual style and an eye for human weakness. Both a love story and a critique of the social mores of the time, the tale of Revd Harding, the Warden of the title, is a piece of literature that will perhaps provoke as much as it will entertain.