- Published: 20 April 2005
- ISBN: 9780141441078
- Imprint: Penguin Classics
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 272
- RRP: $24.00
The History of Mr Polly











Rediscover H.G. Wells - what does he mean to you?
Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future - after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a life of heroism, hope and ultimate happiness.
- Published: 20 April 2005
- ISBN: 9780141441078
- Imprint: Penguin Classics
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 272
- RRP: $24.00
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About the author
John Sutherland is Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University College London and previously taught at the California Institute of Technology. He writes regularly for the Guardian, The Times and the New York Times, and is the author of many books including Curiosities of Literature, Is Henry V a War Criminal? (with Cedric Watts), biographies of Walter Scott, Stephen Spender and the Victorian elephant Jumbo, and The Boy Who Loved Books, a memoir.