One of Thomas Hardy` s most greatly loved and gentlest books, Under the Greenwood Tree is an unashamed idyll and picturesque portrait of the long-vanished pastoral society of early Victorian England. It was the book which established Hardy as a writer and is the ideal vehicle for him to express his affection and love for the Wessex counryside, rural life and characters in all seasons and moods. Under the Greenwood Tree will strike a chord with the modern day reader.