1908. It is generally conceded by critics, and certainly it is staunchly maintained by hosts of readers, that Arnold Bennett's most notable literary achievement is The Old Wives' Tale. This chronicle of the Five Towns and France during the Siege of Paris is a project of heroic proportions, accomplished with infinite skill, and of a scope that invites comparison with the greatest novels of the Victorian era. It is a tale of ordinary people during extraordinary times, told with an insight encountered only in the works of the masters of fiction