ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is concerned with the sources of Jane Austen's knowledge of the Reformation and identifies the nostalgic traditions and historiographical schools of thought in which her works participate. It explores the genres and conventions of English nostalgia for the monasteries. The book examines the novels in which the Dissolution and its consequences play the greatest role and argues that the fledgling resort is a perversion of medieval pilgrimage destinations. It analyzes Austen's relationship to eighteenth-century historical accounts of the Reformation. Using her brief reference to the Dissolution in the History of England as a springboard. The book shows that Austen disagreed with Protestant historians about the value of the Reformation and suggests similarities between Austen and others, like John Milner or William Cobbett, who questioned the conventional understanding of sixteenth-century religious reforms.
