Revolution or an effort without a tomorrow? The emergence of the new novel, the wars it raises, and the influence it exerts on literary creation place the novelistic genre at the center of fruitful theoretical activities and reflections.

The Theory of the Novel, one of Lukacs's first works, responds to the circumstances of its time, gathering all the elements of a pertinent and constructive contribution.

Approaching the issue of great epic literature in its relations with society and culture, the author describes the peculiar forms of epic and tragedy, novella and idyll, simultaneously highlighting the characteristic structures of the novel.

Applying his analytical method to the works of Dante, Cervantes, Balzac, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky, he constructs specific concepts and categories, attributing to broader epistemological inquiries their true philosophical and historical dimensions.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]